Company Profile

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Ukbar Filmes was founded in Portugal in 2009 by Pandora da Cunha Telles and Pablo Iraola. In the last ten years we have produced more than two dozen projects, from shorts to feature films, documentaries and TV series in various genres, with the distinction that 80% of our films are internationally financed. The projects that we have produced in the last five years have proven to be particularly demanding.

From 2020 and 2023, we produced major series such as 24 Land – Season 1 (the first Portuguese TV-Series selected for Drama Producers Pitch at CannesSeries; nominated for the PRIX Europa 2020 for Best Tv-Series); Good Crooks’ Chronicles (breaking audience records for Portuguese public broadcaster, RTP); Thieves Like Us (which premiered at the Geneva International Film Festival); the TV-movies Told by Women (directed by 10 up-and-coming first time female directors); co-produced the first Portuguese-Spanish Amazon Prime Video series, Operación Marea Negra; and the second Portuguese original series for Netflix, Turn of the Tide, which premieres in May 2023. Additionally, there are several other series under development, such as the Marquise of Alorna.

In regards to Cinema, over the past few years, we’ve worked with several directors, ranging from veterans such as Vicente Alves do Ó (Under My Skin; Florbela; Al Berto; Amadeo and Naughty), Jorge Paixão da Costa (Republic; Private Millions and Cândido), Paulo Filipe Monteiro (Clear Nights) and Luís Filipe Rocha (Your Face Will Be The Last); to first-time directors, such as Simão Cayatte (Adrift), Júlio Alves (The Art Of Dying Away), or Jorge Jácome (SuperNatural – Berlin Festival 2022 | Forum, winner of the FIPRESCI Prize).

One of Ukbar’s trademarks has been working with other major producers from all over the world, leading to relevant international co-productions such as Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (closing film in Cannes 2018); Marcelo Gomes’ Joaquim (Berlinale Official Selection); Licínio Azevedo’s The Train Of Salt And Sugar (Locarno Film Festival); Tarzan & Arab Nasser’s Gaza Mon Amour (TIFF NETPAC Award); and Simón Casal’s Artificial Justice (the latter produced with Spain in 2022).

We feel attracted to tales of bravery, people and narratives that make a difference in the world. We’re always looking for filmmakers who want to tell stories, entertain and question the world and our place in it.