After living in Seoul for three years, a Maltese film-maker has made a 50-minute-long feature following his conflicted feelings towards returning home.

Writer, director and editor Franco Rizzo is known for his online series Seoul Stories, to which his short film Night Owl marks the “full stop”.

An eclectic grab bag of cultural vignettes, Seoul Stories aims to challenge the misconception that the titular Korean city is culturally monolithic, the film-maker said.

“I want to be a bridge between cultures,” said Rizzo, having lived in the city for three years and seeing “cultures clash and dance together”.

Although the city sees pockets of expats function within South Korean society, Seoul struggles to be a cultural melting pot. Rizzo saw this as a barrier between the diverse communities – one that many wish to breach.

“There was always this invisible line between the two communities, yet they always wanted to get closer to each other.

“It is a more complex issue, but it is the complexity of it that interested me,” he said, adding that this intricacy is what inspired him to create the internet series.

“Night Owl is the full stop of the series,” Rizzo explained.

Although Seoul Stories has remained consistent in its episodic format, another thematic throughline is the show’s raw and random nature, transforming into an umbrella for his projects, which includes the upcoming short film.

Rizzo explained that Night Owl is somewhat autobiographical as the film is a “very deep and honest explanation” of his own experiences.

The 50-minute film follows a Maltese expat (played by Rizzo) on his last night in Seoul as he meets old flings and friends, spurring the impossible question: should I stay, or should I go?

“It was a challenge for me to focus on narrative,” the director said, explaining that he tends to focus on experimental and impressionist styles, both evident in the series’ previous instalments where Rizzo’s short stories function in friendly vacuums.

“I wanted to make a movie or a short movie before I left Korea… I wanted to tick it off my bucket list,” he said.

An inspiration for Rizzo was Federico Fellini’s 8½ – a surreal work that follows a fictional Fellini – Guido played by Marcello Mastroianni – as he struggles to figure out his next steps as a film-maker.

My crisis was about coming back or not coming back to Malta

“It is mostly about how Fellini made a movie about his crisis at the time,” Rizzo explained.

“My crisis was about coming back or not coming back [to Malta].”

Although a dramatised version of reality, Night Owl draws heavily not only from Rizzo’s own experiences but also those of the cast. “Most of the dialogue actually happened,” he said, mentioning that one of the final scenes of the film features almost word-for-word dialogue with a character whose background is a reflection of the actor playing them.

“I wanted it to be a self-criticism but also a criticism on being Maltese… on Maltese attitudes,” he said.

Maltese film-maker Franco Rizzo. Photo: Facebook

A major theme in the short feature is the ideals that make one Maltese, a concept that Rizzo has grappled with during his time away from home.

“I wanted to decolonise myself when I left Malta.

“Mentally, I don’t feel Maltese,” he said, adding that he views his national heritage as a genetic component rather than a mental or emotional one – a feeling that came at the end of Rizzo’s journey of self-discovery in the East.

“It was a question of breaking myself up into a million pieces and building myself up again,” he explained.

Following the release of the film, which is currently going through the process of public test screenings, the film-maker said Seoul Stories “is going on indefinite hiatus”, yet Rizzo still has plans for more instalments, hinting at a future episode that will follow an Italian comic book artist living in Seoul.

Night Owl will be shown on March 8 at Theatre Next Door, Naxxar, at 7.30pm. Visit facebook.com/seoulstoriesyt for news on this and future test screenings.