The Malta Producers Association has called for the immediate resignation of film commissioner Johann Grech.

The calls come in reaction to an article published by The Shift claiming that the Malta Film Commission was selectively promoting certain local film production companies to international producers, to the exclusion of everyone else in the industry.

This, the MPA said, was “shocking but hardly surprising”.

“The writing has been on the wall for some time now with many industry stakeholders becoming increasingly concerned that the film industry seems to be doing well only for a chosen few.

“It should go without saying that the private sector must be allowed to function without any interference from partisan interests. The fact that a government authority is willfully and maliciously interfering with the livelihoods of private citizens is corrupt and utterly unacceptable in a democratic nation in the EU,” it said.

The MPA said the Film Commission had, some years ago, inexplicably removed the existing online directory and replaced it with an opaque system it called “Opportunities For All”.

“It is bitterly ironic that despite its title the new system seems to have been designed to be an opportunity for the very few, determined privately and arbitrarily by the Film Commissioner...

“This is a blatant abuse of his position and shamelessly distorts the market. It is a blatant violation of the rights of all producers to be given an equal opportunity to work and reveals his talk of providing opportunities for all to be nothing but pure spin.

“That this is done in an industry where Malta’s reputation is paramount, makes his actions even more treacherous and deals yet another blow to Malta’s reputation in an industry which is so sensitive to the exercise of good practice and good governance,” the MPA said.

It demanded the immediate return of the online directory listing all film personnel.

Should Mr Grech not resign, then Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli should remove him, the MPA said.