As a promotional exercise to lure more foreign production to Malta, the Malta Film Awards were magnificent. Whether they worked or not depends on how well the exercise was seen by foreign producers, studio execs and those planning future films.

As an exercise to promote and honour local production, well, I was somewhat disappointed.

Let’s get one thing out of the way. I was one of the players, contesting awards. I am happy with what I got, would have been happier with more but this is not about me griping.

It is a professional assessment after a lifetime of professional work, for which I was very grateful to receive the lifetime achievement award. Grazzi. Now let’s get on with the nitty gritty.

There are two realities in the film business in Malta. The servicing side and local production. The servicing side is doing very well. Johan Grech has done miracles and the cash generated is awesome, beneficial and necessary. May it continue and grow. Well done, Johan.

The local scene is a totally different story. The attempt to merge one with the other on a night like the film awards was disastrous, embarrassing and an outright shame. Let me give you an example.

The award for best actor was awarded to Harvey Keitel. This was stunt casting (when a producer casts a known name in a minor part to better sell the picture – it is done all the time, nothing wrong with that).

Keitel had (perhaps) a dozen lines in the movie, delivered in faux British-speak as if he had a muzzle tied around his jaw. His performance lacked anything resembling emotional response,  so much so that all reviews abroad just wrote it off as “Harvey Keitel takes a vacation in Malta” and, still, he was given the Maltese award.

Compare that work with Mario Micallef’s interpretation in L-Ispettur, 580 pages of emotional drama and an unforgettable solid performance equal to that of any star and the bells of mediocrity and foul play ring out. It is inexcusable. But the needs of economic reward trump real talent and, therefore, Micallef is sidelined.

“Keitel wins best actor in Malta” will sound much better than “Mario Micallef wins for Spettur”. Hence, the need to award Keitel and earn international recognition. And this is what was shameful.

Foreign great artists were eulogised, (“Malta will always be the home of Maximus.” Give me a break. Believe me, that hurt us around the globe. I can hear the laughter.) with lengthy excerpts of their work, while Maltese artists had to contend with a bad picture flashed across the screen for a second or two.

It was foreign work that was at the centre of our film awards not the blood and sweat of local artists. Many saw it as a vivid atrocious example of our colonial mentality, still clinging to the umbilical cord wrapped around our neck, playing havoc with our identity, our aspirations and our sense of reality.

I, on the other hand, see the need to make sure that if money was to be spent, and a hell of a lot of it was, then we spend it in a way to make sure we get it all back… at the cost of downplaying local talent.

The needs of economic reward trump real talent and, therefore, Mario Micallef is sidelined- Mario Philip Azzopardi

Guys, Gladiator, Troy and the rest of them are not our movies. We serviced them. That’s all. They are American movies shot in Malta. That’s it. We have nothing to do with their authorship, with their development and artistic value.

We do not own anything in these movies except, of course, for the fact that we provided extras, built sets designed by others and served the crew breakfast and lunch and taxied them between hotel and set. (May this never stop and may it continue to create jobs and fill our coffers.)

This brings me to another subject. Film in Malta falls under the ministry for tourism.

That alone should sound the alarm because film, the most powerful artistic medium in the world, is seen in Malta as a tourist attraction not as a vibrant artistic force that can inform, promote and give birth to national cinematic expression.

A national film industry can merit the name ‘industry’ when our producers create our own stories (yes, also in co-productions with foreign entities), where we control the finance, development and actuation. Presently, many who call themselves ‘producers’ are nothing but glorified waiters, waiting on foreign productions, providing extras, location permits and help secure the 40 per cent cashback. (It is not a tax break David Walliams. There is a very big difference.)

Again, the work these ‘producers’ provide is very important work and it helps secure jobs and national income but let’s be real, please.

Presently, what we have as support for the local film industry is a hellish process of filling forms, then sitting in an interview where mostly foreign judges with shaky credentials interview the applicants in English. I know what I am writing about. I was an applicant on several occasions and once I just walked out of the interview when I challenged one of the judges on the script I was proposing.

She sweetly asked me to translate the script, at which point I wished I told her what I really thought of her response. When an application is accepted, money is awarded and that’s it. You are then on your own. No development help, no quality control, no infrastructural assistance, no distribution assistance. Nothing. That is the situation in the Maltese film industry. It will take another two pages to explain the situation in our TV drama production ‘industry’.

Film must fall under the ministry of arts and the Arts Council, where, hopefully, one can find like-minded attitudes about the arts, their intrinsic needs for development, sustenance and encouragement. Selling hotel rooms does not sit well with the need to support creative minds.

I think the Malta Film Commission should remain under the ministry for tourism. Let them continue with their great work, enticing foreign productions from around the globe. Why fix it when it is doing so well?

On the other hand, let the process of local creation, development and internationalisation fall under those who can passionately and professionally help the artists involved give the world a taste of Maltese culture.

Yes, we do have one. A powerfully vibrant one. A culture that will appeal to all the cinematic Davids, struggling against the international Goliaths. Let’s make movies. Our movies.

Mario Philip Azzopardi, theatre and film director