Marcelo Pereira was born in Barcelos, Portugal. He completed his secondary education in the city of Porto and in 2011 attended the Languages, Literatures and Cultures course at the Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa and worked as a reporter,
columnist and music critic for the newspaper Diário de Notícias. He graduated in Cinema from the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema in Lisbon and, since 2016, has been working in editing, production and project development with production companies such as Rosa Filmes, Terratreme, Fado Filmes, Uma Pedra no Sapato, among others, and with film festivals such as IndieLisboa, DocLisboa, LEFFEST and Os Filhos do Lumière association. In 2020, he co-founded the film production collective Fátima Filmes with Patrícia Neves Gomes and, in 2025, premiered his first film as a director, A Emancipação de Mimi (The Emancipation of Mimi), at several international film festivals such as FICG – Guadalajara International Film Festival. He is currently finishing post-production on his second film, Banho Santo (Holy Bath), and preparing to shoot his third, Escola de Carpideiras (School of Mourning Women).
In 2026, he participated in the Nebulosa 16mm film workshop, organised by Rua Escura and led by André Gil Mata, Cláudia Ribeiro and Frederico Lobo; and was selected for the Casa PIP artistic residency for filmmakers.