New Maltese short films are premiering during the third instalment of the 16th Kinemastik International Short Film Festival taking place in three partner cinemas around Malta and Gozo today and tomorrow.

These are Stephanie Sant’s film Perpetual Child, Samira Damato’s short Ħallini Ħanini and Liquid Dreams by Malta-based Columbian film-maker Andres Felipe Algeciras Marquez. 

Other local film-makers competing this year are UK-based, Maltese artist Roxman Gatt with his experimental film But Love Left No Room for Hydration and Amy Azzopardi’s Room 23, which won the Most Creative and Original Concept award at the Malta Youth Film Festival 2020.

The programme, curated by Emma Mattei, consists of 16 short films in total, from 12 different countries, which will be shown at the Spazju Kreattiv Cinema in Valletta, Eden Cinemas in St Julian’s and Citadel Cinema in Victoria.

Something to Remember, directed by Niki Lindroth Von Bahr

While some films were selected from submission, others were hand-picked being award-winning films at festivals in Winterthur, Clermont Ferrand, Rotterdam, Berlin, Locarno and Sarajevo, to name a few. The films are curated into two separate and thematic programmes. 

Programme 1 revolves around choice- making, with the short films being presented examining choice and the consequences of how we navigate through our days and nights.

Programme 2 attempts to answer different questions. How do we escape? How do we reinvent ourselves? Faced with limitations, imagined or real, the short films on show reveal resilience and resourcefulness, against the odds.

While the programmes remain the same in all three cinemas, the screening schedule will differ. Spazju Kreattiv will screen Programme 1 today from 9pm and Programme 2 will be shown tomorrow from 9pm. 

How to Disappear, directed by Leonhard Mullner

The programme consists of 16 short films from 12 countries

Eden Cinemas will screen both programmes both nights with Programme 2 starting at 6.30pm today followed by Programme 1 at 9pm. Tomorrow, the Programme 1 will start at 6.30pm and Programme 2 from 9pm.

Citadel Cinema will also screen both programmes in the same order as Eden Cinemas but with slightly different times, starting at 4.45pm and 6.30pm respectively. 

All cinemas will adhere to health recommendations and regulations.  Patrons are  to wear a mask at all times and seating will be arranged to allow for social distance. This means that all cinemas will be working at a reduced capacity of a maximum of 30 persons per screening. 

The films will be adjudicated by an international jury made of concept designer and audiovisual artist Pauline Serrano, performing artist and researcher Brandon Calleja Shaw and visual artist Sarah Chircop, who has worked within the culture sector for the past six years.

They will award the best short film with Kinemastik’s Golden Dot award. The winners will be announced on Sunday. 

Perpetual Child, directed by Stephanie Sant

Patrons who attend the screenings will also be given the opportunity to vote through an online platform. 

Kinemastik is supported by Arts Council Malta through the Investment in Cultural Organisations fund. For full information, visit Kinemastik’s website www.kinemastik.org/kisff2020/ and for regular updates, visit Kinemastik’s FB event page. For tickets, log on to www.kreattivita.org and www.edencinemas.com.mt. Tickets for Citadel Cinema can be bought at the box office but one can view the screening schedule on https://citadelcinema.com.

But Love Left No Room for Hydration, directed by Roxman Gatt

Gramercy, directed by Jamil McGinnis and Pat Heywood