FILM | COMMUNITY | ACTION | CHANGING THE WORLD | ONE STORY AT A TIME
About Michelle
Michelle Melles, MFA, is a Toronto-based documentary filmmaker, writer, multimedia artist and mental healthcare advocate specializing in family care and education. Her artistic practice explores the intersection of personal experience and the broader social systems that shape our lives. As psychologist Carl Rogers once observed, “What is most personal is most universal.” This idea lies at the heart of Michelle’s artistic practice, using intimate, personal stories to question dominant narratives, challenge conventional thinking, and illuminate the complexities of the human experience.
With decades of experience creating broadcast documentaries, docu-series, and streaming content, Michelle explores complex social and personal themes through a deeply human lens. Her debut independent feature, Drunk on Too Much Life, is Michelle's first feature-length independent documentary (co-produced and co-written with her husband Pedro Orrego). Drunk on Too Much Life weaves an intimate family story with a broader examination of psychiatric care, extreme states of consciousness, and the complex search for healing and recovery. Meeting the likes of renowned trauma specialist Dr. Gabor Maté and other cutting-edge voices, the family begins to question the widespread idea that mental illness is merely "faulty brain chemistry." They learn the myriad ways that madness has meaning that goes far beyond brain chemistry and find the tools to forge a new path towards recovery.
The film has reached international audiences through festival screenings, television broadcasts, and distribution on platforms including PBS, TVO (2022-2026), Knowledge Network, Kanopy, OVIDtv, and Pijama Films. It has also become a vehicle for dialogue, education, and advocacy—encouraging audiences to reconsider dominant narratives surrounding psychiatric diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.
Michelle's current documentary project, The Art of Dying, continues her exploration of deeply personal experiences as a means of examining universal human questions. Inspired by the life and death of her father (the Dutch-Canadian artist Henk Melles 1943–2026)), the film explores mortality, grief, memory, and the search for meaning through a personal and philosophical lens. Combining documentary observation, archival material, visual experimentation, and artistic reflection, the project considers how we confront the inevitability of death and how love, memory, and creativity shape our understanding of what remains.
Michelle began her producing career with the internationally syndicated, Gemini Award-winning documentary series SexTV, exploring the intersections of sexuality, gender, culture, and politics. Using both observational and expository cinematic techniques, the groundbreaking series examined these subjects around the world in a thought-provoking and cutting-edge way. A first of its kind in Canada, SexTV received eight Gemini Award nominations and won Best Lifestyle/General Interest Series. Producing numerous documentaries on a range of topics, often highlighting strong women fighting oppression, enriched Michelle's storytelling and deepened her understanding of how our personal lives intersect with complex social issues.
After ten seasons producing documentaries for SexTV, Michelle continued to produce and write a diverse range of television productions across broadcast and streaming (shows including Fashion Television) before expanding her focus to include independent documentary filmmaking, multimedia artistic creation and mental health activism.
Michelle has directed several short independent documentaries including When Schools Close for Dr. Irvin Studin at the Institute for 21st Century Questions. In 2025 Studin was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work drawing international attention to the devastating consequences of prolonged school closures during COVID-19. Michelle also directed the award-winning short documentary Grandmaster Moses about Sifu "Rob" Moses, an influential American martial arts master, fight choreographer, stuntman, and movement philosopher who trained celebrities including Uma Thurman for her role in Kill Bill.
Michelle is a member and launch coach with the venerated U.S.-based filmmaker-run distribution company New Day Films that has provided social issue documentaries to educators since 1971. New Day sustains the ideas that inspired its formation—collaboration, hope, and social change.
She has gained invaluable experience at New Day Films designing impact campaigns that foster deep engagement, inspire meaningful dialogue, and motivate positive community action. She remains a committed mental health activist who aims to shift perceptions in mental health care, guide decision-making, encourage institutional reforms, and foster community building.
Areas of Focus:
- Mental Health, Psychology, and Social Work
- Trauma Studies
- Gender & Sexuality
- Women's Studies
- Arts & Community Activism
- Social Movements and Protest
- Marriage and Family
- Religion, Theology, and Ethics
- History
- Science and Technology
- Hospice Care, Death, and Bereavement
Background and Education
Michelle Melles holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Documentary Media from The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University (Gold Medal, 2021, summa cum laude); received the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant from the Canadian Government for her work in documentary filmmaking and mental health research (2021), and holds a BA from the University of Toronto (high distinction; faculty scholar). She is of Dutch descent and married to a Chilean.