<div>The Embassy of France in Mexico has invited me to join the Master's Program in Fine Arts at the École des Beaux-Arts de Nantes Saint-Nazaire, starting September 2026. I didn't apply — they sought me out.
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<div>My goal is an international career as a filmmaker — and to help build the film industry here in Baja. Nantes is the next step. The first year is self-funded.
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<div><strong>I'm raising 5000USD (100,000mxn) by September to make it possible.</strong>
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<div>Every contribution — and every share — gets me closer.
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<div><strong>How I got here</strong>
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<div>I grew up in Todos Santos, a small town on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur. My dad, Manuel Salvador "Chava", has been Chief of the Fire Department here for almost 30 years.
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<div>I became an artist in this town. At seven, I started in the Palapa Society's arts program, where Erick Ochoa mentored me in painting and drawing for more than eight years. At eleven, I joined the summer filmmaking workshops at the Todos Santos Film Festival and stayed on in their Youth in Film program for over a decade.
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<div><strong>Cinema took hold. Mexico City, then France.</strong>
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<div>At eighteen I moved to Mexico City for professional film training. In 2022, I earned a Bachelor's in Arts from the ESRA Group (École Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle) in France — one of the country's leading film and audiovisual schools. I'm fluent in French, Spanish, and English.
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<div><strong>Back in Baja, making work</strong>
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<div>Since returning in 2024, I've been making films in the place that shaped me:
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<li>Directed my first short film here in town, <strong>Enigmática María.</strong>
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<li>Worked on the camera team of the feature <strong>Inés</strong>, shot in Los Cabos and Todos Santos.
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<li>Began developing a new documentary, <strong>Calida Fornax</strong>, on the origins of ranch culture in Baja California Sur — a project about territory, memory, and identity.
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<li>Produce <strong>Todos en Todo, </strong>a podcast that builds community by highlighting the people making a difference in Todos Santos.
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<div><strong>Why Nantes</strong>
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<div>Being approached by the Embassy is rare, and the program itself is the reason I said yes. The École des Beaux-Arts de Nantes Saint-Nazaire pushes beyond film into sculpture, painting, performance, ceramics, and photography.
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<div>It's the kind of cross-disciplinary training that will deepen the visual language I bring to my films and help me build the professional portfolio my career needs next.
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<div>The program begins<strong> September 2026</strong>. After the first year, I qualify to apply for support from the Mexican government to complete the degree. The first year is on me.
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<div><strong>What comes after Nantes</strong>
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<div>I'm certain about what I want to build: an international career as a filmmaker, with one foot always in Baja. The film industry here is young. Todos Santos, La Paz, and Los Cabos are increasingly on the map as locations — Inés is one example — but the infrastructure, the local crews, the homegrown stories told by people from here, all of that is still being built. I want to be part of building it.
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<div>After the Master's, I plan to keep developing my own films — Calida Fornax is the first of several documentaries I want to make about this region — while working internationally on projects that sharpen my craft and expand my network.
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<div>The goal isn't to leave Baja. It's to come back better, with more skill, more contacts, and more ability to bring opportunities home. Nantes is the next step toward that.
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