Daniel Hidalgo Valdés


Daniel Hidalgo Valdés is a Mexican composer, record producer, sound designer and education researcher. He became president of the Academy of Mexican Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on 4 November 2025.
WWW danielhidalgo.mx

Early life and education

Hidalgo Valdés was born in Mexico City. He is the son of scientist María de los Ángeles Valdés and the brother of Mexican cinematographer Carlos Hidalgo.
He studied composition at the Centro de Investigación y Estudios Musicales. He later obtained a master's degree in Research and Development of Education from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and a master's degree in Documentary Film from the Universidad de la Comunicación. As of 2025 he is studying a master's degree in Applied Artificial Intelligence at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education.

Career

Hidalgo Valdés has composed music for film, theatre and television. His best-known film scores include Amores perros, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, and the documentary El Alcalde, directed by Diego Osorno, Emiliano Altuna and Carlos Rossini; both films were nominated for the Ariel Award for Best Original Score by the AMACC. He also wrote the music for the plays eXtras, directed by Sabina Berman, and La noche en que raptaron a Epifania, directed by Ana Francis Mor, which received the Silvestre Revueltas Award for Best Original Music from Mexican theatre critics.
In addition to composition, he has worked extensively in sound post-production and sound design for feature films, documentaries, theatre and advertising. In 2000 he received the Ariel Award for Best Sound for the documentary feature Del olvido al no me acuerdo, directed by Juan Carlos Rulfo. In 2020 he won the award for Best Sound Design at the Critics and Theatre Journalists Association Awards for the play Tártaro, directed by David Psalmon.

Sound art and installations

Hidalgo Valdés has also developed sound-art projects, including radio plays, feature-style radio pieces and sound installations. Among them are the radio play Del otro lado de la pared, written by Flavio González Mello; the sound installation 7 akústicas y un cuarto, presented at the Segunda Bienal Latinoamericana de Radio; and the multimedia exhibition H2O DF, produced during his tenure as a fellow of Mexico's National System of Art Creators.

Teaching

Since the age of 21, Hidalgo Valdés has taught at several higher-education institutions, including the Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana, the Universidad Iberoamericana, the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica and the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. He is a member of Mexico's National System of Art Creators.

Presidency of the AMACC

In September 2025 Hidalgo Valdés was elected president of the Academy of Mexican Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the 2025–2027 term, succeeding Armando Casas. His appointment was reported in Mexican and international media.

Awards and honours

  • 2000 – Ariel Award for Best Sound for Del olvido al no me acuerdo.
  • 2001 – Ariel Award nomination for Best Original Score for Amores perros.
  • 2002 – Silvestre Revueltas Award for Best Original Music for the play La noche en que raptaron a Epifania.
  • 2010 – Best Music for an Animated Short Film at the Pantalla de Cristal Festival for Luna.
  • 2011–2015 – Fellow, National System of Art Creators.
  • 2011 – Elected active member of the AMACC.
  • 2014 – Ariel Award nomination for Best Original Score for El Alcalde.
  • 2014 – Best Original Music Award at the 21st Festival Latinoamericano de Video y Artes Visuales de Rosario, Argentina, for Las tardes de Tintíco.
  • 2016 – Best Original Score at the Pantalla de Cristal Festival for Los parecidos.
  • 2018–2020 – Fellow, National System of Art Creators.
  • 2021 – Secretary of the AMACC.
  • 2022 – Best Sound Design Award at the Critics and Theatre Journalists Association Awards.

Selected filmography

As composer or co-composer unless otherwise noted.Parabola, short filmCuentos para solitarios, television seriesAmores perros Sierra bruta Un viaje, short filmEn el sofá, short film9 y 20, short filmMe gusta cuando callas, short filmCochinadas, short filmCon devoción, documentaryEl viaje de la nonna 2033 Discutamos México, television seriesLuna, animated short filmNaica, viaje a la cueva de los cristales, documentaryAl acecho del leopardo, short filmLos Minondo, television seriesPerras Las tardes de Tintico, short filmEl Alcalde, documentaryLa Revolución de los Alcatraces, documentaryEl dictado, short filmEl maestro y la flor, short filmMi vanidad, short filmOlas del cielo, short filmLos ases del corral, short filmGrandes figuras del arte mexicano, television seriesLos parecidos Potentiae, documentaryAyúdame a pasar la noche Al otro lado del muro, documentaryAfter Darkness De Santo Domingo al Zócalo Ciudad Cuidado con lo que deseas Lejos del sur, television seriesEl Apóstol, television seriesIntervalo, short filmMemoria de los olvidados
  • ''Baby App''