ABOUT

Darya Films is a Film & TV production company based in Lisbon, Portugal, founded in 2018 by Greek-Portuguese producer, director & writer Paolo Marinou-Blanco and Portuguese producer Filipa Vala. Darya Films specializes in developing and producing projects that engage with important or controversial social and political issues seen through personal & original perspectives, yet are still accessible to a wide range of audiences.

We work on genres ranging from dark comedy to political thriller and historical drama, striving to bridge different cultures and prioritize projects created by women and new voices under-represented in the national filmmaking and television landscape. In 2021 we produced “Empty Hands”, a short film (Curtas Vila do Conde IFF, San Francisco IFF, Izmir IFF, Provincetown IFF, Badajoz IFF, among others), and in 2024 “Dreaming of Lions”, a dark comedy about the controversial issue of euthanasia, a Portugal/Brazil/Spain coproduction with funding from ICA (Portugal), ANCINE (Brazil), Ibermedia and Eurimages. The script was selected for the Torino Film Lab – Comedy, SFFILM Rainin Grant, MFI Script2Film and the Crossroads Agora Coproduction Market. The film premiered as the opening film of the Critics’ Picks competition at Tallinn Black Nights IFF in 2024 and was released in Portuguese cinemas by NOS on 8 May 2025. It is distributed in Brazil by Pandora. 

Our films in development include “Happiness”, a dark tragicomic satire about our unaffordable cities and our ageing population, and “Memories of my Guerrilla Fighter Mother”, a documentary exploring the Angolan Civil War through a deeply personal and woman-centered perspective. For television, we produced “Sonhar com Leões TV Series”, based on the feature film “Dreaming of Lions”, broadcast on RTP in 2026. We are currently producing “Tempestades em Copos de Água”, a six-part comedy-drama series for RTP to be broadcast in 2027, and developing “Gaia”, a cross-border political thriller series about the controversial issue of GMOs in the European Union.

TEAM

Paolo Marinou-Blanco

Producer | Director | Screenwriter

  • Paolo Marinou-Blanco is a Greek-Portuguese producer, director & screenwriter, with a B.A. in Philosophy from London School of Economics, an MA in French Literature from University College London and an MFA in Film from New York University. Following an internship with Spike Lee, Paolo wrote, directed and produced his 1st feature “Goodnight Irene”, screened at Tallinn Black Nights, Edinburgh, Valencia, Goa, Provincetown, New Orleans, Mill Valley, another 30 festivals worldwide and theatrically released in Portugal and the UK. 

    Paolo has also worked as a professional screenwriter in the US (WGA member), Portugal and Brazil, working with studios like Paramount Pictures (US), Fox (Brazil) and producers such as Michael London (Oscar nominated for “Sideways”). 

    Paolo’s short film “Empty Hands” screened at Curtas Vila do Conde 2021, San Francisco IFF, Provincetown IFF, Izmir IFF, FestIn, Badajoz and many others, winning numerous awards.

    “Dreaming of Lions” was Paolo’s 2nd feature as producer/director and screenwriter. The film is a dark surreal comedy about euthanasia, a Portugal/Brazil/Spain coproduction, selected for the Torino Film Lab, MFI Script 2 Film, won the SFFILM Rainin Grant, funding from Ibermedia and Eurimages, and premiered as the opening film of the Critics’ Picks competition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.