Alfonso is a Caribbean-American filmmaker, educator and journalist born and raised in the Bronx to parents from Jamaica and Dominican Republic. He graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied Dramatic Writing and Film while minoring in Mandarin Chinese. His short film Champions (2018) won the Wasserman King Award.
His debut feature Verde (2020) was the first feature film to be shot in the border province of Dajabón in Dominican Republic. A crime drama wrapped as an art house film that meditates on grief, faith and salvation, the film won the World Cinema Audience Award at the 51st Nashville Film Festival, screened in competition at the 31st New Orleans Film Festival, the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes France and the 28th Pan African Film Festival in LA, where it was nominated for Best Debut Feature.
As a Henry Luce Foundation Scholar (2019-2020), Alfonso served as a scriptwriting consultant for Huawei, while also conducting journalistic coverage on the Chinese film Industry. His on-set coverage of 5th Generation director Tian Zhuangzhuang’s latest film Cry of the Birds (鸟 鸣嘤嘤) resulted in the publication of the long form article “Challenging Nature” in American Cinematographer Magazine, where he continues to contribute as a correspondent on Chinese Cinema and most recently authored the cover story National Defense for the 2021 September International Issue.
Alfonso is an Assistant Arts Professor in the Department of Film & Television at NYU Tisch and he has also taught a series of filmmaking workshops in the Chavón School of Design in Dominican Republic as a Visiting Instructor.
As a screenwriter, he most recently provided additional story contributions and script edits to the film 5lbs. of Pressure starring Luke Evans and currently in production.
Alfonso is currently developing his next feature film, which is to be shot in Brooklyn East New York.