Alberto Arvelo
About this Artist
ALBERTO ARVELO has developed an international cinematographic body of work that has been recognized for the profound and human burden of his characters and the visual power of his films. His most recent film, The Liberator (2014), which was premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was part of the Best Foreign Film Short List for the 2015 Academy Awards, stars Édgar Ramírez, María Valverde, Danny Huston, Iwan Roen, and Gary Lewis.
His film A House with a View of the Sea (2001) was an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival and received 18 international awards.
Arvelo initiated an original film movement known as Cine Átomo (Atom Cinema), focused on creating real opportunities for young Latin American directors. The concept stems from the idea of producing uncommon, reflective, and humane movies with minimal and essential crew and production components. Based on a Cervantes short story, the first movie produced using the mechanics of this movement was Habana Havana (2004), directed by Arvelo. The film received a dozen international recognitions.
In 2015 Arvelo directed the stage and video artwork of the multimedia performance of Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Hollywood Bowl, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and starring Bryce Dallas Howard. For the Los Angeles Philharmonic festival America and Americas in 2010, Arvelo directed the stage portion of the multimedia Cantata Criolla, starring Helen Hunt, Erich Wildpret, and Édgar Ramírez.
Arvelo’s awarded Cyrano Fernández (2007) is an adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand’s classic play. Arvelo’s film preserves the essence of the love triangle, depicting it in the complex and breathtaking environment of a slum in Caracas. Cyrano Fernández was premiered at the AFI Festival of Los Angeles.
His acclaimed documentary To Play and to Fight (2006), which premiered at the AFI Festival, dives into the lives of several children in the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra System, empowered by renowned classical music figures such as Plácido Domingo, Claudio Abbado, and Sir Simon Rattle.
Born in Venezuela, Alberto Arvelo now lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons.