Filmmaker Júlia Machado has been directing short films with participation and prizes at international film festivals since 2006. Her debut short film "A Cidade dos Jovens" on the coming of age process of adolescents living in the favela Cidade de Deus (City of God) won OCIC Honorable Mention Award at Rio International Ethnographic Film Festival. Her recent short film "Paradise" showing the luxury of a senior woman won Special Jury Award in the Short to the Point Festival in 2016. She has a PhD in Film and Media Studies from the Faculty of Arts at Aarhus University and has worked as a journalist, producer, and film editor in various media and film productions. In 2009, she was a jury at Jangada Prize (OCIC/SIGNIS) in the 16º Vitória Cine Vídeo and co-developed the open-university film workshop Cinema: Criação e Pensamento for favela residents in Rio.