Maradona Dias Dos Santos

Maradona Dias Dos Santos was born in Angola on 14 April 1982. Dos Santos' father was communications specialist in the Angolan military and a veteran of the Civil War. In 1984 the family moved to London England and Dias Dos Santos now considers himself a proud British, Angolan. He was accepted at the Central Film School in London to study all aspects of film making. It was here that he wrote and directed his first short film, Gambling Love. The results impressed his tutors so much that he was offered a full scholarship. However, Dias Dos Santos chose to discontinue his studies in order to start making films. The subsequent few years were some of the most exciting and challenging of his life. Dias Dos Santos became re-acquainted with Angola, falling in love with the rich culture, music and food. At the same time, he struggled to find acceptance, in a country where he didn't have a strong command of the language and where he was viewed as a foreigner. Angolan at heart, with a British mentality, he was determined to gain acceptance and fulfil his ambitions, believing that he could marry the best of both cultures. In 2011, Dias Dos Santos began the lengthy process of setting up Giant Sables Media in Angola. At the same time, he began developing ideas for a film script. One of these ideas was an outline for a crime thriller, whose protagonist was a hard-bitten Angolan policeman named Dias Santana. At present, Santana is the first ever Angolan and South-African co-production, paving the way for a rejuvenated African film industry. This Iconic film is the first Angolan film on Netflix and the second from a Portuguese speaking country in Africa. Dias Dos Santos hopes that through his films, he will change perceptions of Angola as a country, destroyed by war, creating an environment where the younger generation share his optimism, positivity and belief that, no matter where you start in life, anything is possible.