Dreaming of Lions is a surreal dark comedy about love and 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, who is 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.

Paolo Marinou-Blanco is a Portuguese and Greek director, producer & screenwriter born in New York City, with a B.A. in Philosophy from London School of Economics 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. “Dreaming of Lions” is Paolo’s 2nd feature as writer/director and producer via his company Darya Films. The film is a Portugal/Brazil/Spain co-production, selected for Torino Film Lab, won the SF Film Society Rainin Award, the Script Pool Award at Industry@Tallinn Event, and funding from Ibermedia and Eurimages.