Mountains rise as a striking backdrop for a Goya winner who has long embodied a distinctive pattern of artistry. The prize will be presented at the festival’s closing gala on June 10 at Casa Mediterráneo. She becomes the tenth recipient of this honor and the first woman to receive it in the festival’s modern era. The award recognizes not only a composer who creates music for film, television, and documentaries but also a creator who roots sound in live concerts, inventive productions, and fearless experimentation with sonic textures.
“Music plays a central role in the movie experience, and it feels like a personal triumph to be recognized at this level,” Montes remarked. “Choosing the Music award for this image underscores how deeply valued composers and filmmakers are within the Alicante Film Festival’s 20th edition.”
“Music is essential to cinema. Without it, sensations and tension would fail to land with the same force. It guides the characters, shapes them, and in some cases the melodies become part of a place or a character’s DNA. Each year, the festival pays homage to those who craft unforgettable soundtracks,” stated the festival director, Vicente Seva. He also added, “To Zeltia Montes, whose melodies have lingered in the memories of audiences for years, our cinema and our lives are richer because of what she has created.”
Biography of Zeltia Montes
Born in Madrid in 1979, Zeltia Montes began piano studies at a young age, entering the conservatory where she earned licenses in Piano Teaching, Solfège, Music Theory, Transposition, and Accompaniment. Her early education also embraced contemporary music, with focused work in Harmony, Modern Composition, Latin piano, and vocal studies. This solid foundation would shape a career that intertwines film scores with concert music, theatre pieces, and experimental sound projects.
Montes received the Goya Award for Best Original Score for the score of the film Good Pattern in 2022, marking a milestone as the fourth woman ever nominated in that category and the third to win it. This achievement highlighted her ability to fuse atmospheric textures with narrative momentum, turning scenes into immersive auditory landscapes.
Earlier in her career, in 2014, she contributed to Sandalwood Prints, which earned the Gaudí Award for Best Original Music. The mid-2010s saw her expanding into screen work and television projects, including a biographical feature that explored a creative life in sound. In 2017, the documentary Fragile Balance drew critical attention and earned nominations for Best Documentary and Best Original Song, underscoring Montes’s talent for integrating music with documentary storytelling. A 2018 project, Uncovering Sad Hill, went on to win Best Film in the Noves Visions section at the Sitges Festival and gained nominations for Best Documentary Feature at Spain’s Goyas and the José María Forqué Film Awards. In 2019, she contributed to the theme music for a Netflix series, further broadening her collaboration with cross-platform storytelling and television production.
In 2020, Montes continued to shape cinematic soundtracks, working on Silencio del Pantano directed by Marc Vigil, One for All by David Ilundian, and Goodbye by Paco Cabezas, projects that were showcased at major festivals such as San Sebastián. Her body of work demonstrates a commitment to narrative sound that supports character, mood, and place, often blending traditional orchestration with innovative sound design and electronic textures.