Writer. Director. Lyric Tenor.
Miguel Berzal de Miguel is simultaneously developing his career as a writer, film director, and lyric tenor.
He was born in Madrid, Spain. After taking his degree in Audio-visual Communication, he divided his time between a Master’s degree in Film Directing and another in Theatre Directing.
At the young age of 17, he wrote his first book, El refugio (The Refuge); it was
published by AM Editorial in 2012: “a work with a certain dark tone, but only on the
surface, showing a maturity and sensitivity that invite us to reflect on those sorrows of
our soul that we do not allow to heal”. A month after its publication, it entered Spanish Casa del Libro’s list of best-sellers.
Between 2014 and 2016, Miguel wrote, directed, and distributed three short films:
Cuidar a Ruth (Taking Care of Ruth), Un encuentro (An Encounter) and Nomeolvides
(Forget-me-nots). His work as a film director and screenwriter was praised by the
judging panel, critics, and audience at several of the most important international film festivals in the world, such as the Cleveland International Film Festival, the HollyShorts Film Festival, and the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
The last two short films (of which he is also the sole producer) caught the attention of
several US agencies. In 2019, Un encuentro (An Encounter), Audience Award at the
Cleveland International Film Festival, was broadcast on New York TV on channels that
reach the American continent and some European countries.
Entre parientes (Among Relatives) was one of the 20 novels selected at the 2016 Premio
Gregorio Samsa, for which 315 works were entered. Ápeiron Ediciones published the
book that same year.
His third book, Las horas muertas (The Dead Hours), was a highlighted work at the X
Premios Literarios Ediciones Oblicuas from among more than 800 entries. In 2017, the
book was printed by that publishing house.
Miguel first participated in the Madrid Book Fair in 2017 with his novel Entre parientes
(Among Relatives); this was a great success, with all copies sold.
Between 2015 and 2016, he worked in the Direction Department for three separate
seasons of Diagonal TV’s well-known series Amar es para siempre (Loving Is Forever).
In 2017, he wrote, directed, produced, and distributed the feature film Sin novedad (No
News) which garnered 19 official selections for the Premios Goya (including Best Film,
Best New Director, Best Original Script, and Best Production Direction – i.e., Line
Producer). It was also praised at prestigious international film festivals, including
Dances With Films (USA), Västerås Film Festival (Sweden), Julien Dubuque
International Film Festival (USA), Festival Cinema NYC, New York City Independent
Film Festival, Dumbo Film Festival (USA), Social World Film Festival (Italy), and the
Aesthetica Film Festival (United Kingdom).
Within a year of its premiere in 2018, the film won 52 awards at international film
festivals around the world as well as 7 official selections for the Premios Forqué.
Nowadays, the film has achieved 80 awards. Diario Jaén (Spain): “Sin novedad is praised by critics and showered with awards. […] It’s easier said than done, but the truth is that Berzal de Miguel’s film accumulates eighty awards […]”.
At the end of 2019, Ápeiron Ediciones published Miguel’s fourth book: Náuseas & La hiedra (Nausea & The Ivy).
In 2020, he wrote the script of Setenta (Seventy) for the Spanish production company Millennials Films. However, the filming was cancelled due to the pandemic.
That year Ápeiron Ediciones published the second edition of Entre parientes (Among
Relatives) and Ediciones Oblicuas published the second edition of Las horas muertas
(The Dead Hours).
In 2021, he received another major recognition: the incorporation of all his work as a writer in the catalogue of the prestigious Princeton University (USA).
Film Daily News, in reporting the news, stated: “Beauty, kindness, love, forgiveness,
but also cruelty, brutality, evil, and pain are present in his work along with great depth,
realism, and simplicity. Miguel Berzal de Miguel creates characters that are hard to
forget, from whom you don’t want to be parted. His books are a lucid diagnosis of the
world in which we live, a profound dissection of the human being”.
In September 2021, he returned to the Madrid Book Fair with his fourth book Náuseas & La hiedra (Nausea & The Ivy). The following week, Las horas muertas (The Dead
Hours) entered Spain’s list of top 10 best-sellers.
In 2022, Ápeiron Ediciones published the second edition of El refugio (The Refuge) and he received the Revista Madrid Magazine Career Achievement Award.
His career as a lyric tenor is beginning. In addition to his musical singing degree, the great baritone Rodrigo Esteves, the great tenor Charles Castronovo, the great bass-baritone Andrew Foster-Williams, the composer Javier Berzal de Miguel (one of the youngest candidates ever for Best Original Music at the Premios Goya), the
virtuoso pianist Pablo Arencibia and the organist and composer María Luisa Arencibia have also played a part in his musical training.
“His personal and powerful metallic voice pierces your heart like a knife and excites”.
(Film Daily News, USA)
“His distinctive metallic voice betrays the depth of his emotion, as noted by the great tenor Charles Castronovo and the great baritone Rodrigo Esteves. Miguel Berzal de Miguel is an all-around artist who has always faced life, transforming it into art, declining it in all its many enchanting facets. His artistic ambivalences are fully expressed through his engaging, intense and evocative works”.
(Luxury Investment Magazine, Switzerland)