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.

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.

I'm raising 5000USD (100,000mxn) by September to make it possible.

Every contribution — and every share — gets me closer.

How I got here

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.

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.

Cinema took hold. Mexico City, then France.

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.

Back in Baja, making work

Since returning in 2024, I've been making films in the place that shaped me:

Why Nantes

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.

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.

The program begins September 2026. After the first year, I qualify to apply for support from the Mexican government to complete the degree. The first year is on me.

What comes after Nantes

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.

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.

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.