Maria Esperança Pascoal was born in 1963 in Luanda, Angola. She moved to Portugal at age 16, as the civil war in Angola intensified, returning to her homeland two years later, where she was the first female camera operator on Angolan television. She attended the course at the Conservatoire National du Cinéma Français, dedicated herself to photography and directed several documentaries and short films. In 2002, she joined the group of artists at the Cité Internationale des Arts and participated in several contemporary art exhibitions. In 1998 she made her first short fiction Pour Nous; later she directed Memórias de Infância (2000); There is always someone who loves you (2003), which was developed in a residency in Lussas, awarded by the SCAM (Société Civile des Auteurs Multimedia) and selected in several festivals; Tomorrow will be different (2009); Alda and Maria - Por Aqui Tudo Bem (2011) and Girlie (2017).