Papá Melissa

Melissa is someone who never really leaves you. Once you’ve seen and experienced them, they stay with you forever. This film is a beautiful reminder that living in your truth comes with both rewards and consequences, and that the impact of choosing to live authentically can reverberate endlessly.

[This film] opens your mind to what unconditional love really means and what it looks like in practice. There’s a very common idea of what unconditional love is… but to see it be practiced and lived is a completely different thing.

Papá Melissa challenges everything that you were taught about identity, love and spirituality especially. It holds a mirror up to you in a way that I've never experienced before. Walking out of that film I was left with a lot of questions.

[This film] unveils the intricacies of life so delicately… It’s a very complicated film. There's so much love between the family members, but at the same time, you feel there’s a lot of sacrifice, a lot of understanding and embracing each other’s individuality. It’s a film that should be seen by everybody.

Papa Melissa is a beautiful story about unconditional love and family. It’s raw and real. It will make you laugh and maybe cry. It’s thought provoking and deep. I’ve honestly never seen a film quite like it.

It’s such a beautiful and intense film. There’s so much intimacy with the family… a lot of sweet moments, but also a lot of tensions that are left unresolved. That’s what draws me in to the film the most, they're not trying to sugar coat anything… it's just in this state of evolving and becoming.

This film is incredibly intimate. That was my first reaction. There were so many interesting contradictory elements in play, and the filmmaker didn't rush to explain it or take a side. It leaves a lot of unresolved questions for the audience – and maybe even the filmmaker and the subject – to ponder upon.

I see so much humanity in the diversity and love in this film… There are moments that are so memorable. At the end Melissa says she has both souls - the eagle and the jaguar - how inspiring and powerful that is.

I believe the point of filmmaking is to encourage empathy, and ‘Papá Melissa’ immerses people in a life that’s not their own. The children in this family stood out to me the most, so full of creativity and the wisdom that comes from diverging from the norm. I left the theater considering authenticity, and the parts of ourselves were afraid to embrace. We need more stories like this that make us think, rather than giving us all the answers. Especially those that are pioneered by extremely talented female storytellers!