ABOUT US

Conquering Lion Pictures is a dynamic, independent Canadian production company under the leadership of partners Damon D’Oliveira and Clement Virgo. Their first feature film, RUDE, premiered at Cannes in 1995 and went on to play over 35 festivals worldwide including TIFF and Sundance. In 2019, RUDE was presented again as part of the Locarno Film Festival’s Blacklight Retrospective, showcasing seminal Black cinema of the 20th century. Other feature films including POOR BOY’S GAME and LIE WITH ME, which played top tier festivals including Berlinale, Pusan and TIFF.

 In 2015, CLP premiered its six-part CBC/BET adaptation of The Book of Negroes to record breaking numbers in Canada and to huge audiences in the US. A co-production with South Africa, the mini-series received 12 Canadian Screen Awards, U.S. Critics’ Choice Television Awards nominations for Best Limited Series and Best Actress in a Limited Series (Aunjanue Ellis), and won the NAACP Award for Best Writing in a TV Movie or Miniseries for Virgo and Lawrence Hill. It was also a finalist for the 2016 Peabody Awards. CLP launched their most recent feature film, BROTHER, based on the critically-acclaimed novel by David Chariandy at TIFF 2022. CLP has several TV projects in development including THAT LONELY SECTION OF HELL, which was recently acquired by HBO USA, as well as an adaptation of Esi Edugyan’s HALF-BLOOD BLUES which is in development with the CBC.