Plans to promote an open-air cinema event organised by the Valletta Cultural Agency have been hushed up after it was due to be held at a time when mass gatherings remain banned.
The ‘Cinema City’ event was scheduled to take place between June 2 and 7 at Ġnien Laparelli, in Valletta, featuring films including The Matrix and The Iron Giant.
But a news conference by the government agency announcing the details on Tuesday was postponed at the last minute and a Facebook event encouraging people to attend has been taken offline.
Members of the public calling the Valletta Cultural Agency for more information were told the event “still needs to be confirmed with health authorities” and “if it is not confirmed then it will be postponed”.
Currently, no more than four people are allowed to gather in public and Health Minister Chris Fearne has said mass events will not happen in early summer.
A health spokesperson confirmed to Times of Malta on Wednesday that the only mass events currently scheduled to be allowed from June 1 are seated weddings. Cinemas and theatres can only reopen from June 7 under the current plan.
Cinemas and theatres can only reopen from June 7 under current plan
Questions to the tourism and arts ministers, who were due to attend Tuesday’s news conference, have remained unanswered.
Valletta Cultural Agency chair Jason Micallef has not responded to attempts to contact him.
However, Micallef took to Facebook on Wednesday to criticise the health authorities for not allowing events to take place.
He shared pictures of a socially distanced Eurovision song contest semi-final in Rotterdam and asked: “Could it be that the science in Holland is more advanced than that of the Maltese health authorities?”
He said that he could not understand how Malta was not allowing cultural events to be organised.
“Why, how and who is deciding that, in Malta, we cannot organise cultural activities with audiences of 50, 100 or 200 people in a theatre or hall that can hold 1,000 people or in a large outdoor space throughout the whole of June?
“Not even with the famous ‘herd immunity’!! It is unbelievable, unless there are ulterior motives,” he said.
Back in April, the tourism authorities said that they had not given the go-ahead to any mass events, with Minister Clayton Bartolo announcing they have ‘no blessing’.
Last year, the open-air cinema also came under fire. The criticism first came from the artistic and cultural sector, who slammed the event for being allowed months after an established film festival was denied public funding. It was then attacked for failing to follow social distancing rules.