Lighting Fires

Maria is a Portuguese 18-year-old college student, who was born in Lisbon and lived for 14 years in Madrid, Spain. Her multicultural experiences awakened her interests on social issues such as the consequences of social media for teenagers, the setting of unrealistic beauty standards for young women, the diminishment of creativity in modern systems of education and the promotion of a sustainable development, among others. This lit up her passion in cinema as she believes it is the ideal art form to raise awareness to these topics. Maria uses short films and videos to educate herself and the world around her on these matters and their importance and urgency, while also delivering a cinematic experience through the use of innovative film techniques that fit into each of her film’s message, such as the use of long takes or specific framing and composition approaches. Maria considers filmmaking and production the best pursuits for her, since they merge all of her passions, such as economics, arts and social concerns. She aspires to become an agent of change through her filmmaking style, perspective, form and storytelling.