PJ Marcellino

P.J. Marcellino (CMPA, DGC, DOC) is a Toronto-based, Lisbon-born, Cape-Verde heritage producer/director/writer. He started his career as a journalist, author, editor, publisher, and scholar in the field of migration and political economy, and was later a senior political and communications advisor with international agencies including the UN, IOM, and the Peace and Security Department of the African Union. In 2012, he set off on a new path, reinventing himself as a filmmaker. Quickly finding that his on-screen voice kept swinging back to themes such as identity, inclusion, memory, representation, migration, human security, and peace-building, he took to this new task with a sense of urgency, and the unique perspective afforded by his previous career. His first mid-length film, "After the War: Memoirs of Exile" (2014), focused on PTSD and was shortlisted for various awards, including a SAMHSA Voice Award 2015, a White House-endorsed award for productions highlighting mental health issues on screen. His award-winning debut feature, "When They Awake" (2017) tackled Indigenous rights and cultural revival through the lens of a dynamic Indigenous music scene, making a foray into music as social intervention - which would become a core theme of his work. Following a special preview as a WOMEX'17 Film Selection, "When They Awake" became the first documentary to open Calgary International Film Festival, when its World Premiere was programmed as the event's Opening Night Gala, and as part of Telefilm Canada's prestigious Movie Nights Across Canada selection, with the presence of local film and TV stars Eugene Brave Rock (Wonder Woman), Michelle Thrush (Blackstone) and Melissa O'Neill (Dark Matter). The film would go on to open Portland Film Festival (US Premiere), as well as Hamilton Film Festival and Northwest Fest (Canada), and closing nights at Dreamspeakers Film Festival (Nebraska) and Festival Cine Alter'Natif (Nantes, France). Flagship screenings included the Aga Khan Museum (Toronto), the Chicago Cultural Centre for the celebrations of Canada Day 2018, and the Ildo Lobo National Palace of Culture (Cape Verde Islands). It wrapped up its festival circuit at Geena Davis' Bentonville Film Festival (US), where it was nominated for Best Feature Documentary, and Montreal's Indigenous Presence Festival 2018, where it took home the 2nd Rigoberta Menchú Social Award, bestowed by the Nobel Laurate's own foundation in Guatemala. In 2018, his experimental/animation short film "Riga", created in collaboration with French singer-songwriter Philippe Séranne, was incorporated into the virtual collection of the Museum of Latvian Occupation. In 2019, he co-directed The Wellbeing Project, a short documentary about Indigenous livelihoods in Northern Ontario, in a collaborative effort between the Matawa Tribal Council, Canada's federal government, and Ontario's Provincial Government. P.J. is a graduate from the University of Lisbon, University of Aberystwyth (Wales), York University (Canada), and the Argentinean Executive School, an alumnus of the Documentary Filmmaking Institute at Seneca College, and a member of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), Directors Guild of Canada (DGC), Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC), the Academy of Canadian Film & Television, the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT), Folk Alliance International, the Toronto Animated Images Society, and the Cape Verdean Film & Video Society.