Malta Film Week Day 1: Malta celebrates its audiovisual history

The Malta Film Commission decided to celebrate its film and television industry with an entire week full of activities, events, seminars, discussions, masterclasses, film screening and Q&A sessions with local, and international personalities – all leading up to the red carpet and awards ceremony on the 29th of January 2022.The objective of the Malta Film Week and the Malta Film Awards is to solidify a fresh, adaptable, and unique brand image and celebrates the success story of Malta audiovisual industry – for the years to come. “It was our people’s ambition and our crew’s ability that kept our film industry working, from one generation to the next – and we are here to celebrate their story,” said Johann Grech, Malta Film Commissioner.

"We want to know the ambition of those working in our industry and to move forward, even during difficult times. We live in a Covid world, and our industry operates in a highly competitive environment and a global market for films and tv productions. Every place is competing to get a solution for everybody, filmmakers, film studios, or fast-growing platforms. We want to keep exercising our economy and cultural benefits, keep offering challenging opportunities to Malta to become a world-class film industry", standout Grech. The commissioner also highlighted the objective of improving and strengthening Malta’s domestic film and TV industry by investing in education, training, and more funds for local productions.

MALTA FILM CULTURE AND ECOSYSTEM
During the panel discussion, Maltese producers shared their filming experiences and analyzed the current challenges facing the production industry in Malta. Winston Azzopardi from Latina Pictures talked about the experience of filming its feature-length “The Boat,” which was sold in 22 territories worldwide. “Experience helps, with a small budget, you have to face different stages, you can come up with the script, that it has to be good. The second phase is raising the finance; it was the most difficult one, the third part is to film, it’s the easy part for me, and the fun part was the postproduction,” he said. “Making a film is like creating a product; you have to find the right market,” he stated.

Colin Azzopardi affirmed that local TV and film producers are very talented because they created great projects with small budgets. "We are a small island; we have limited resources, but we are very creative. The government has to push our industry," he indicated. The same idea was shared by Paul Parker from Paul Parker Films limited. "Coproduction and financing are the keys because our resources are limited."

On the other hand, Abigail Mallia from Malta Film Commission pointed out that international co-production could help in this context. "We have to see Malta as a small market, so we have to pay attention to the European model, and that is the coproduction. You learn a lot in the international coproductions, and I'm a fan believer in the coproduction funds," she said. It is evident that Malta wants to find a gap in the global audiovisual arena and is taking its first steps. This Malta Film Week will be the perfect moment to stand out its talents, locations, and resources and finally internationalize its audiovisual productions.

By Romina Rodriguez from Malta