With a baby face and an old soul, Melissa do Carmo is constantly shifting between the world of dreams and the challenges of reality. Born and raised in Portugal, she realised from an early age that being human is difficult, but also beautiful. Something certainly worth creating stories about. And so she has done. She has a degree in Audiovisual and Multimedia, other self-proclaimed skills in various manual arts, and a specialisation course in Film Directing so she can officially call herself something, despite being many things. She currently works as an assistant director, whilst also working on projects as an art director and creating illustrations under the pseudonym ‘Mel no Mato’. In her creations, regardless of the medium, she draws inspiration primarily from the challenges of human existence, nature and Portuguese folk culture, producing works with a strong aesthetic, symbolic and emotional component, as well as touches of humour and fantasy. In 2023, her documentary short film “Synesthesia” won the PrimeirOlhar award at the 23rd Viana do Castelo Film Festival. In the same year, her fiction short film “May God Be With Us” was part of the official selection at several national and international festivals.