Mediterrane 2024: The Verdict
The island of Malta adds a Mediterranean-themed film festival in its quest to make the film industry a pillar of its economy.
Mediterrane 2024
Mediterrane 2024: The Awards
Turkish auteur Zeki Demirkubuz’s ‘Life’ (‘Hayat’) with its caustic social critique and a quietly angry feminist message won the top prize at the second edition of the Mediterrane Film Festival.
Inside Malta: an interview with James Vella
British-Maltese musician, soundtrack composer and record label boss James Vella talks to The Film Verdict about his deep connections to Maltese music, cinema and culture.
The Strangers’ Case
Confronting the world refugee crisis head-on in highly dramatic scenes that refuse to let go, Brandt Andersen’s etched-with-an-axe ‘The Strangers’ Case’ is a human disaster movie that passionately describes a chain reaction of real-life horror.
Palazzina Laf
Italian actor-director Michele Riondino transforms a notorious real-life case of mass workplace bullying into a boisterous social satire in his lively debut feature ‘Palazzina Laf’.
Inside Malta: Fabrizio Fenech
Representing the younger generation of Maltese filmmakers, Fabrizio Fenech hopes for an uptick of local productions in the future.
Inside Malta: Joseph Formosa Randon
Expert location manager and line producer Joseph Formosa Randon has worked on the top foreign shoots in Malta.
Inside Malta: An interview with Jon S. Baird
Currently head of the jury at Mediterrane Film Festival, the UK-based writer-director Jon S. Baird talks to The Film Verdict about his upcoming projects, his Scottish roots and his personal connections to Malta.
Pirates of the Mediterranean
The historical documentary Pirates of the Mediterranean combines an operation to uncover a 16th century shipwreck with re-enactment and talking heads to explore an overlooked element of Europe’s past.
Inside Malta: A Visit to Malta Film Studios
On a break from Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival, The Film Verdict takes a rare peek inside the studio complex where Game of Thrones, Troy, Assassin’s Creed, Napoleon and both Gladiator films were shot.
Beautiful Lie
A father attempts to create some kind of life and legacy for his blind son in this tender but bittersweet Maltese drama, Beautiful Lie.
Negu Hurbilak
At the end of the Basque armed conflict, a young woman waits to flee across the border in ‘Negu Hurbilak’, an atmospheric and rigorously shot but mystifying tale that leaves too much to the viewer’s imagination.
I Saw the TV Glow
Produced by Emma Stone, writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s uneven but impressively bold passion project ‘I Saw the Tv Glow’ celebrates gender-queer liberation using cult TV homages and hallucinatory horror elements.
Inside Malta: Joshua Cassar Gaspar
The Film Verdict is at Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta for the next week talking to key players in the Maltese film industry.
Dear Jassi
An engaging Romeo and Juliet romance between rich and poor Punjabis slowly reveals its darker side in Tarsem Singh Dhandwar’s laid-back but ultimately devastating social critique. ‘Dear Jassi’.
Sweet Dreams
Dutch-Bosnian director Ena Sendijarevic’s playful, surreal, stylish second feature ‘Sweet Dreams’ finds a rich seam of darkly absurd comedy in Europe’s murky colonial history.
Hooked to the Silver Screen: celebrating David Bowie’s rich cinematic odyssey
The second edition of Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival is paying tribute to art-rock icon David Bowie’s cinematic legacy with a dedicated sidebar.