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Spanish filmmaker Alfonso Balcázar is best-known for directing numerous low-budget "Eurowesterns" and for producing Italian spaghetti Westerns via the P.C. Balcázar production company he co-founded with his brother Francisco Balcázar. Alfonso later founded the Filmax distribution company. Born into a life of privilege in a family of fur traders, Balcázar made his directorial debut in 1959 with La Encrucijada (aka Crossroads), a religious drama set during the Spanish Civil War. Balcázar became a producer in the early '60s and became involved with Italian Westerns, many of which were filmed in his own Barcelona-set studio. Much later in his career, Balcázar made a number of low-budget erotic exploitation films under the name "Al Bagran."