Actress Heather Graham, known for her roles in “The Hangover,” “Lost in Translation,” and “Austin Powers”, is among the stars attending the Meditterane film festival this week.  

Colin Trevorrow, who directed the Malta-shot Jurassic World Dominion, and Connie Nielson, a leading actor in Gladiator, are also in Malta this week for the festival.  

On Monday, Nielsen attended a screening of Gladiator at Fort St Elmo before sitting down for a Q&A session. 

That event was among several free outdoor screenings being held this week.   

This is the third year that Malta is hosting the film festival.  Malta organised the Valletta Film Festival before that. 

The 2023 and 2022 editions were not without controversy.  

Times of Malta reported last July how the Malta Film Commission paid “exorbitant” fees to fly dozens of renowned actors and film crew to Malta for the first edition of the film festival. The visitors were on business class seats, accommodated in lavish five-star resorts, and in some cases paid for visitors’ “plus one”. 

Earlier this year, a freedom of information request by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation revealed how the British comedian and author David Walliams was paid a whopping €120,000 to host the Malta Film Awards in January 2022. 

A report tabled to parliament last February showed that the 2023 addition of the film awards cost taxpayers €3.8 million.