Malta tops list of Belgian soap's foreign locations

For the seventh time over the past nine years, the popular Belgian TV series Familie - the longest running in Europe after Coronation Street - is shooting episodes in Malta.

Familie has been running for 13 years and has been among the top five programmes on Belgian national TV every week since its inception, according to producer Ben Vetters.

Malta features as Malta in the series and was written into the script by Familie chairman Herman Verbaet, who "is a big fan of the island", Mr Vetters said. It has now become an integral part of the series, which has passed episode 3,000.

"Familie is good publicity for Malta," he said, speaking of the coordination with the Malta Tourism Authority in Brussels to promote the island in Belgium and Holland.

A prime time TV series, showing on VTM everyday, it reaches a million viewers each time, Mr Vetters said of its popularity.

The production company, Studios Amusement, works with the Malta Tourism Authority and major tour operators, and hotels have the opportunity to promote themselves in Belgium through the series.

"We have found a lot of cooperation from the locals and from the hotels," Mr Vetters said.

The series travels extensively and has been shot in over 60 countries, but none as frequently as in Malta.

Familie has been shot in Malta since 1995, when Studios Entertainment came over to celebrate the 1,000th episode, holding a party for 500 fans, who had won a competition and a trip to Malta.

The following year, 1996/7, tourism from Belgium increased by 60 per cent, Mr Vetters said.

Maltese actor Manuel Cauchi, who has been starring in the series for eight years, plays the role of Joe Bonduono, manager of the Malta division of a Belgian electronic device company.

Mr Cauchi is also referred to as the local producer as he is involved in the Malta side of the production. He shares the stage with other Maltese actors and extras, while a group of boys from the FX Attard secondary school were playing the part of the choir during filming at Fort St Angelo yesterday.

The production, which includes a total of 55 cast and crew - the most it has ever brought down - are spending over three weeks in Malta. They are shooting until June 6 in locations such as Marsaxlokk, the Coastline Hotel, the New Dolmen Hotel, Mdina and Marsascala.

However, over the years, they have also noticed differences - more traffic and more development - which can be restricting. "We are not a mega-budget US production and cannot afford to block roads and stop traffic," he said.

Nevertheless, they found their silent and secluded chapel, St Anne's in Fort St Angelo, for yesterday's scene.

"We normally have an idea in our heads, then we come over to scout for locations and then we develop the script around them," Mr Vetters said.

Studios Entertainment yesterday filmed a special episode, the traditional cliffhanger, which marks the last of the TV season. In this case, it is the marriage of the two main characters in St Anne's Chapel, which was dressed up for the occasion.

The actors, Gunter Levi, also a popular singer in Belgium, and Sylvia Claes, are a couple in real life too and have just had a child, so their faces are being splashed on the front covers of several magazines, said Mr Vetters.