[1][2] While working for the Berlinale in 1988, she met the Portuguese director and sound engineer Joaquim Pinto.
After the cinema project failed, she began working for Portuguese film productions.
She first worked as a driver in 1989 for the film Recollections of the Yellow House, directed by João César Monteiro and produced by Pinto.
She then moved on to other productions, including for Manoel de Oliveira with No, or the Vain Glory of Command, Wim Wenders' Until the End of the World and Manuel Mozo's Xavier.
Her short films O Que Te Quero (What I want from you - 1998) and As Terças da Bailarina Gorda (Fat Ballerina Tuesdays - 2000) were particularly well received by critics.