Alex Kahuam is an award-winning film director/writer/producer living
and working in Los Angeles/CA whose work has been showcased at top film festivals around the world such as: The Cannes Film Festival (A-list), Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (A-list), SITGES International Film Festival (A-list), FICG-Guadalajara International Film Festival, FrightFest, Morbido, BIFFF and many more.
He is best known for his work on the critically acclaimed film Failure!, starring Ted Raimi. It was shot entirely in a single take (87 minutes), making him the first Mexican director in the history of cinema to accomplish a feature film with no cuts in the United States and one of the few directors globally to have successfully achieved this. On August 28th, 2023, the film had its world premiere at the prestigious FrightFest London, followed by Morbido Fest and Tallinn Black Nights, where rave reviews praised its direction, screenplay, the performance of Ted Raimi and the cinematography. The film had its Brazilian Premiere mid April at Fantaspoa, the biggest genre film festival in Latin America and continues its festival route in 2024.
“Filming ‘Failure!’ was challenging because the tension in this thriller is built around 87 tight pages shot in one single take. No cuts, no tricks – one mistake at minute 86 and we would have to start all over again,” says star and producer Ted Raimi, cast as a man who finds himself between a rock and a hard place. Or, rather, between financial ruin and murder. “[Luckily] I had a talented production team and a great director behind me. They made it all possible.” -Variety (Cannes Film Festival-Fantastic Pavilion 2023)
★★★★★
'Think a more natural and less showy Tarantino – that’s both engaging and engrossing and deserves a wider audience and shows that the young director has plenty of promise.' - Starburst Magazine
★★★★
'A tour-de-force performance by Ted Raimi combines with some brilliant camera play to make Failure! an absorbing one-take wonder that keeps the viewer guessing.' -The Hollywood News
★★★★
‘Writer and director Alex Kahuam manages to keep a very dialogue heavy film fluid through tight control of the action; the camera almost never stops, torquing up the tension every so often to a fairly satisfactory conclusion.’ - Film News
‘Writer and director Alex Kahuam, as well as cinematographer Ernesto Lomeli, use the one-take aesthetic to perfection, with zero cuts or transitions. A brilliant and mind-blowing achievement indeed, one which will help instantly hook audiences in with its mysterious and undeniably tense atmosphere, which continues throughout.’ MovieWeb
'Raimi’s worn-down, yet tenacious rich guy in a mansion, who sheds all sorts of qualms in order to get through the evening is a keeper of a performance. It’s funny'. -Kim Newman (Top English critic)
"Writer/director Alex Kahuam splendidly crafted a one-take feature." Horror Fuel
Alex’s work has been showcased at the same festivals as prestigious director Boaz Yakin (Remember The Titans 2000-Denzel Washington), (Safe 2012-Jason Statham).
Director Kahuam showcased his film at Fantaspoa-Brazil along with the new film of the acclaimed director Gonzalo López-Gallego (American Star 2024-Ian Mcshane).
Failure! was selected at the prestigious Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Pöff) in Estonia. One of the top 15 A-list class film festivals in the world just like: Cannes, Venice and Berlin.
The director’s work has been discussed in the following magazines:
Director Alex Kahuam at the Cannes Film Festival 2023 showcasing “Failure!” 2023
His style has caught the attention of many film festivals, critics and audiences around the world for the use of long takes and the tension that he builds in his films.
He directs, writes and produces films that have an impact on the world. He is always looking for human condition stories that will make the audience reflect on them and to achieve that he films his projects with a unique style and sharp narrative.
Kahuam moved to Los Angeles in 2012 to improve his filmmaking skills and he's been residing there ever since.