Melina Tupa

Melina Tupa is an award-winning Argentinean and Brazilian journalist, documentary director, editor, and producer. Melina recently edited and produced Miss Panama, a short documentary about the first Black woman to be named Miss Panama, who prior to her victory, was requested to answer an additional obscure legal question. The short documentary had its World Premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and it aired on AlJazeera. Notable previous editing credits include additional editing of the feature documentary A La Calle, a firsthand account of the extraordinary efforts of everyday Venezuelans as they struggle to reclaim their democracy from the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro. The documentary premiered at the 2020 DOC NYC. It was nominated for the 43rd News & Documentary EMMYS in the Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary category. Melina currently serves as the Video Consortium Program Manager for the Solutions Storytelling Project: Latin America. The program consists of a collaborative storytelling fellowship that connects regional filmmakers and social innovators in Latin America (2024) to produce solutions-focused short documentaries that catalyze positive change. Melina holds a Bachelor in Journalism degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and a Master of Journalism degree from UC Berkeley, focusing on Documentary Filmmaking and Photojournalism. Melina was awarded a Documentary Merit Fellowship, the Carlos M. Castañeda Journalism Scholarship, and is the recipient of the N.S. Bienstock Fellowship, an award that recognizes a promising minority journalist in radio or television news. Her short documentary “The Search” told the story of Estela de Carlotto, the president of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, whose grandson was abducted during the Argentinean military dictatorship. The documentary won best short documentary at the Amnesty International Film Festival, is a Student Academy Award finalist, a recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Excellence in Journalism Award for Student Special Project in addition to several other awards, and has been featured in different film festivals across the world. Having been raised in a multicultural background, Melina speaks different languages: Spanish, Portuguese, English, and she is currently learning French. Melina is a Video Consortium member, Brown Girls Doc Mafia (BGDM) member, an Alliance of Documentary Editors (ADE) member, and a BIPOC Doc Editors member.