DREAMING OF LIONS
A surreal dark comedy about love and euthanasia.
Also a TV series: Sonhar com Leões TV Series (RTP, 2026).
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Dreaming of Lions is a surreal tragicomedy about euthanasia. Gilda is terminally ill. Her only desire is to die without pain while she still recognizes herself, but she fears the risks of her past failed suicide attempts.
She pays to join the underground organization “Joy Transition International”, that claims to teach terminally ill people how to kill themselves painlessly, when euthanasia is illegal.
There she meets the much younger Amadeu, an introverted funeral agency worker, also terminally ill. Gilda and Amadeu go through the “euthanasia workshops”, which turn out to be an absurd and expensive scam. Running out of patience and money, Gilda decides to break into a veterinary clinic to steal chemicals to kill herself painlessly, convincing Amadeu to join her.
In the darkly comical and poignant adventure that follows, their friendship turns into sexual attraction and love, and these unlikely lovers embark on their best and last journey, to try and die on their own terms.
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ProductionDarya Films | Promenade | Capuri Filmes | Cinetica ProduccionsFundingEurimages | Ibermedia | ICA (Portugal) | ANCINE (Brazil) | PIC Portugal Cash Rebate Incentive | Mallorca Film Commission (Spain) | SFFILM Rainin Grant | Garantir Cultura | SPA | Lisbon City Hall
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Gilda Denise Fraga
Amadeu João Nunes Monteiro
Isa Joana Ribeiro
Eva Sandra Faleiro
Laurinda Victoria Guerra
Idalino António Durães
Lúcio Roberto Bomtempo
Bruno Alexander Tuji Nam
Montse Assun Planas
Gilda’s Father Felipe Rocha
Breezy Dinarte de Freitas
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Writer & Director Paolo Marinou-Blanco
Director of Photography Glauco Firpo
Editing Kathryn J. Schubert | Bruno Lasevicius
Composer Toni M. Mir
Casting Jo Monteiro | Cristiana Cruz Forte
Sound Director Bruno Garcez
Production Designer João Torres
Costume Design Maria Barbalho
Make Up & Hair Olga José
Sound Designer & Mixer Hugo Leitão
Line Producer Eduardo Nasser | Cristiana Cruz Forte
Producers Justin Amorim | Paolo Marinou-Blanco | Eduardo Rezende | Luis Ortas Pau
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NOS Audiovisual Portugal
Pandora Brazil
Coccinelle Films Sales
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Torino Film Lab (Comedy Lab)
SFFILM Rainin Grant
Mediterranean Film Institute MFI Script2Film
Tallinn Black Nights Industry@Tallinn Script Pool Development Award
Thessaloniki International Film Festival Crossroads Agora Coproduction Market
Brussels International Film Festival Coproduction Forum
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Tallinn Black Nights International Film Festival
Red Sea International Film Festival
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2021 General Press
Cineuropa | The Brussels International Film Festival organises the 5th Brussels Co-Production ForumCineuropa | Lioness and You Can Dance among the winners of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event
Cineuropa | Thessaloniki’s Agora Crossroads Co-Production Forum announces its selection
2023 General PressScreen Daily | David Cronenberg’s ‘The Shrouds’ among €8.3m Eurimages funding recipients
Eurimages | Co-production funding in 2023
IONCINEMA | 2023 Eurimages: Cronenberg, Serebrennikov, Nordahl & Agnieszka Holland Land Coin
Cineuropa | Eurimages supports 32 co-productions
2024 InterviewsDirty Movies | Our dirty questions to Paolo Marinou-Blanco
ICS | Tallinn Black Nights 2024 interview: Paolo Marinou-Blanco (Dreaming of Lions)
2024 General Press
Revista de Cinema | Filme com Denise Fraga participa do Red Sea International Film Festival
C7NEMA | “SONHAR COM LEÕES” E “RUAS DA GLÓRIA” NO BLACK NIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL
Cineuropa | Tallinn Black Nights announces the films in its Critics’ Picks competition
Cineuropa | Nikolaj Nikitin • Head programmer, Critics’ Picks, Tallinn Black Nights