A feature film about Malta’s 1919 Sette Giugno riots will star Hollywood actors Harvey Keitel and Malcolm McDowell.

Details of the upcoming film Storbju, that will begin filming next month, were announced during a press conference on Wednesday. 

Cinema giant Mr McDowell, who had famously played the lead role in the 1971 film adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, will play Colonel Saville who was present when shots were fired upon Maltese civilians during the infamous riots.  

And, Mr Keitel, who has starred in Hollywood classics such as Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Mean Streets, and Taxi Driver, will play acting governor of Malta Walter Charles Hunter Blair. 

The film will star Malcolm McDowell (left) and Harvey Keitel (right).The film will star Malcolm McDowell (left) and Harvey Keitel (right).

The film's local title Storbju will be billed in English as Just Noise

The film’s producer, Jean Pierre Magro, told reporters that the film would be shot in both Maltese and English. It will follow four separate story lines, two of which are in English and another two in Malta, showcasing a momentous time in Malta’s history.  

Director Davide Ferrario said he was excited to showcase Malta to an international market, not as a set cast as another location.

What were the Sette Giugno riots?

This summer marked the 100th anniversary of the Sette Giugno uprisings

On June 7, 1919, three Maltese protesters, Manwel Attard, Ġużeppi Bajada and Lorenzo Dyer, died when British troops fired at a rioting crowd in front of leading grain importer Anthony Cassar Torreggiani’s house in Strada Forni (Old Bakery Street), Valletta, and those attacking The Daily Malta Chronicle offices in Strada Teatro (Old Theatre Street).

Another protester, Carmelo Abela, was stabbed at the palace of Colonel John Louis Francia (Palazzo Ferreria) the following day and succumbed to his injuries a few days later.

The events surrounding the Sette Giugno riots are considered to have been some of the most tumultuous in Maltese history.  

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