Manoel Victor Mendes is a Brazilian writer and filmmaker from Belém, Pará. Drawing on his academic background as a historian, Mendes brings a deeply reflective and humanistic lens to cinema, transforming research and lived experience into compelling narratives rooted in memory, cultural identity and preservation of local histories. Their debut short documentary, Memória, traces the fading light of Belém’s silver screens through their eyes, and sets out to preserve the stories of the three movie theaters that once defined the city’s cultural pulse. As both writer and director, Mendes’s storytelling blends research, personal reflection, and visual poetry.