Alejandra Cadena-Perez Profile
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Alejandra Cadena-Perez is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and multimedia artist.
She primarily works in film and video, creating short fiction films, documentaries, video installations, semi-autobiographical vignettes, and meditations on various recurring subjects.
Her work is diverse, but common themes include the human relationship with nature and our environment, the body in motion, and the female presence.
Her films have been screened in the USA and around the world.
She was born in Mexico City; however, she is a global citizen proudly holding three nationalities (Mexican, Canadian, and American).
She holds three Master's degrees: an M.F.A., an L.L.M., and an M.B.A., and combines her professional theatrical dance experience with a career in corporate roles at Fortune 500 companies in the U.S.A.
She is also a marathoner and ultramarathoner, having completed 25 marathons, including the World’s Seven Major Marathons.
In 2025, in Sydney, she became one of only 439 women worldwide to have completed a marathon on all seven continents. She is also the only woman in the world to have completed both the Arctic and Antarctic marathons in the same year (2024).
Alejandra lives in San Diego, California, with her husband and their dog, Coco.
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My work moves at the intersection of body, nature, and self, celebrating the female form in motion while tracing the delicate, often challenging journey of becoming.
I discovered my poetic voice through dance as a teenager in Mexico City, sharing this poetry of movement with audiences in theatre, television, and film. Immersing myself in the art from a young age shaped the way I see the beauty of the female body in motion, the worlds women shape, and the inner and physical strength they embody.
In my work, I create women whose presence transforms their surroundings. In “Her Mother’s Daughter”, for example, two strong women navigate love and tension through dance, turning the space they inhabit into a living participant in their story of resistance and affection.
Movement and nature are inseparable in my life. As a long-distance runner, I have found rhythm, connection, and self-reflection on the trail. This passion inspired my film ”YESPIRATION”, a celebration of discipline, joy, and the intimate bond between body, environment, and self-themes that run through all my work.
In my upcoming video installation “H2O: Home, Hope, Origin”, swimming becomes a metaphor for life itself: a journey of navigating resistance, encountering memory, and forging identity in unfamiliar places. The piece is a visual poem, exploring the currents that shape who we are and who we become.
Every place I have lived, every path I have taken, has left its mark on my vision. My art is the sum of these experiences: intimate, exploratory, and always in motion.
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EDUCATION
California College of the Arts. (M.F.A.) Film. San Francisco, U.S.A. 2018-2020
University of Zurich. (L.L.M.) Master of Laws in International Sports Law. Zurich, Switzerland. 2010-2012
Centenary University. (M.B.A.) Master of Business Administration; International Management. New Jersey, U.S.A. 2006-2008
Humber College. Post Graduate. International Marketing; With Honors. Toronto, Canada. 2000-2002
Carleton University. Bachelor of Arts. Psychology. Minor, Philosophy. Ottawa. Canada. 1996-2000
ART & OTHER
San Francisco Art Institute. Certificate. Digital Media, Art Installation & Writing. San Francisco. U.S.A. 2017
National Academy of Design. Certificate, Abstract Painting. New York, U.S.A. 2011-2012
New York University. Certificates. Broadcast Production & TV News Production. New York, U.S.A. 2003-2004
CORPORATE EXPERIENCE
Caplan & Ross LLP – Junior Associate. New York, 2012-2013
Pfizer, Inc.– Project Manager, Marketing. Animal Health. New York, 2006-2008
Macmillan McGraw Hill – Production Manager. New York, 2004-2006
SPECIAL PROJECTS
DOHA Goals Forum, World Cup. Ambassador. Doha, Qatar. 2012.
United Nations Documentary Film Festival-Millennium Goals. Film Judge. New York, NY.
PROFESSIONAL DANCE.
Imperio Dance Company.
Dancer. Modern, Jazz & Mexican Folk Dance. Theatre Blanquita/Televisa. Mexico City.
FILMS
Her Mother's Daughter
Short Fiction. May 2019. Director – Writer - EditorOfficial Selection – 58th Golden Knight Malta International Short Film Festival 2021, Malta
Official Selection – 2024 Great Lakes International Film Festival 2021. Erie, PA. USA
Official Selection – New Hope Film Festival 2021. New Hope, USA
Best Director Nomination/Best Female Eye Filmmaker – New Hope Film Festival 2021
Official Selection – YoFiFest -The Yonkers Film Festival 2021. Yonkers, USA
Official Selection – Studio City International Film and TV Festival 2021. Los Angeles, USA
Official Selection - Marina Del Rey Film Festival 2021. Los Angeles, USA
Official Selection – Global Film Festival Awards 2021. Los Angeles, USA
Best Experimental Short Winner – Global Festival Award 2021
Official Selection – Love Wins International Film Festival 2021. New York, USA
Best Student Film Nominee – Love Wins International Film Festival 2021
Official Selection - London International Filmmakers Festival 2021, UK
Official Selection – LA Indies Film Festival 2021. Los Angeles, USA
Official Selection - New York City Independent Film Festival 2021. New York, USA
Official Selection – Harlem International Film Festival 2021. New York, USA
Official Selection - San Francisco Latino Film Festival 2020. San Francisco, USA
Official Selection - Montreal Independent Film Festival 2020. Montreal, Canada
Official Selection - Bridges International Film Festival 2020. Corinthia, Greece
Honorable Mention– Bridges International Film Festival 2020
Official Selection - Cyprus International Film Festival 2020. Nicosia, Cyprus
Official Selection - San Francisco Independent Short Film Festival 2020. San Francisco, USA
Official Selection - Lady Filmmakers Festival 2020. Beverly Hills, USA
Official Selection - United Latino International Film Festival 2020. Cleveland, USA
Award Winner - 2nd Place Student Film - United Latino Film Festival 2020
Official Selection - San Diego Latino Film Festival 2020. San Diego, USA
YESPIRATION
Short Documentary. January 2019. Director – Writer – Editor.Official Selection - New York City Independent Film Festival 2025. New York, USA
Honorable Mention – Special Guest - Sport Movies & TV (FICTS Fest) 2021. Milan, Italy
Official Selection – Cyprus International Film Fest 2021. Nicosia, Cyprus
Official Selection - Another Hole in the Head Film Festival 2021. San Francisco, USA
Official Selection - Sport Movies & TV – Milano International FICTS Fest 2020. Milan, Italy
Official Selection, International Athletics Film Festival (FICA) 2019. San Sebastian, Spain
Official Selection, Maine Outdoor Film Festival 2019. Portland, USA
MULTI-CHANNEL VIDEO INSTALLATIONS
H2O: Home, Hope, Origin.
Three-channel video installation in development.
Wobble YS.
Three-channel video installation. Burning Man SF Decompression. October 19, 2019
Midday Summer Meditation Dream
Five-channel video installation. California College of the Arts, December 2019OTHER WORK
PUBLIC PRESENTATION
Diego Rivera, Pan American Unity Mural: Linguistics of Mexico. Film.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA - Hispanic Heritage Month. September 22, 2021
Docent
Diego Rivera, Pan American Unity Mural. City College of San Francisco, Fall 2020-2021
PUBLIC VIDEO ART
The Last Butterfly.
Salesforce Tower Projection Video Display. San Francisco. December 12-15, 2019PHOTOGRAPHY & PERFORMANCE INSTALLATION ART
And Not The Last One.
Photography.
On Borders and Boundaries Exhibition. California College of the Arts, Hubbell Gallery, November 4-15, 2019
You See it When you Believe it.
Performance Installation Art. The Nave, California College of the Arts. December 3rd, 2019DANCE VIDEO ESSAYS
Heart in a Red Dress.
San Francisco Art Institute, SF. Summer 2018SAMI AFRICA. Cape Town, South Africa. 2025
