Malta has been inhabited by many tribes, empires and colonial powers during its history. People are believed to have lived here from as long ago as six millennia before the time of Christ. Habitation of the islands really kick-started around 700BC, thanks to the Phoenicians.

You would think that these various settlers, cultural influences and the varied lifestyles and traditions they brought with them would provide a rich seam for historical film-makers to mine. Documentaries exploring the countless stories and myths of the islands could serve as both educational tools and evergreen vehicles of historical preservation, could they not?

Local father-and-son team Maurice and Chris Micallef certainly think so. They have a combined film-making career spanning close to six decades, given that Maurice shot his first film way back in 1964.

Proud of the country’s culture - and keen to spotlight it - their central focus is on promoting awareness of Malta’s rich heritage and variedcultural influences. For example, their filmography includes a piece spawned from research about the Tal-Qadi megalithic temple. This site (dating back as far as 4000BC) is located between Burmarrad and Salina, in the northern part of Malta.

Most recently, Chris and Maurice (through their company ‘CMM Productions’) are enjoying recognition overseas for two new feature-length documentaries. The Normans (2019) focuses on the influence this Viking group left in their wake here in Malta. And on an entirely different tack, The Giant Deep Reds (2020) examines the importance of the bluefin tuna to mankind throughout the ages.

Both films have received recognition and prizes abroad. The Normans won best picture and best documentary Feature at the monthly Filmcon Awards contest in the US (for October 2019). And in the brand new White Unicorn International Film Festival in India, The Giant Deep Reds was voted best film, best documentary and best film on nature/environment and wildlife in their November/December 2019 contest.

The two films also garnered awards at various other competitions overseas.

For The Normans these include best producer (Oniros Film Awards, Feb 2019) and best educational film (Druk International Film Festival). The Giant Deep Reds also won the Jury Choice Award (Short Cinefest, Dec 2019) and best television script (New York Film Awards, Nov 2019).

Both titles are currently tied down with exclusivity agreements. These often go hand-in-hand with submitting a film for festival consideration. As a result, Chris was unable to show me the new films in their entirety. Granted, that was a little frustrating for me. Of course, it’s better news for Messrs Micallef. The trailers ‒ both available on YouTube at the time of writing ‒ do at least provide an intriguing taster of each movie’s content and tonality.

Producing any kind of film is a monumental team effort. The full sequence of stages from development, production, post-production through to release can easily span several years. Since this team has not one, but two new features in the offing, I was keen to catch up with Chris.

Their central focus is on promoting awareness of Malta’s rich heritage and varied cultural influences

I begin by asking him what message he and his father really wanted to drive home in their new historical documentary The Normans.

Chris responds: “The moment of inspiration was when we visited a place in Malta known as Miġra l-Ferħa. The central theme is whether Count Roger really landed in Malta.” (for the uninitiated ‒ and, until recently, that included me ‒ Count Roger was a well-known Norman nobleman in the late 11th century).

Chris continues: “The documentary also details where the Normans originated from and what influence they left on the Maltese islands.”

I then repeat my question about the underlying theme, but this time about their new seaborne documentary The Giant Deep Reds.

Chris describes how their attention was drawn to the tuna industry during filming of an earlier piece focused on Maltese fishing traditions. Regarding the new film, he says: “The documentary not only explores how the bluefin tuna is caught in Malta, but how it is caught in Spain, Italy and Morocco. In addition, it shows the importance of the bluefin tuna in the Japanese culture.”

He explains that The Giant Deep Reds also delves into bluefin tuna fishing in earlier times in Malta, going down to Roman, Greek and Phoenician times and as far back as the Neolithic and Palaeolithic periods.

Since Chris and Maurice have evidently enjoyed producing many films together over the years, I am intrigued to know how the various roles of a typical film-making team have naturally come to be divided between them.

Chris enlightens me: “My father Maurice is in charge of directing and cinematography. I am in charge of research, script-writing, production and editing. Quality control at the end is sealed by my father Maurice.”

Given Malta’s clement climate and 300 average annual days of sunshine, the country is well-known for providing Hollywood-esque filming conditions. This is augmented by scenic local geography that often doubles-up for Israel or one of the other regions of the Levant. This might explain Malta’s frequent selection as a filming location for religious productions.

In such cases, the production company is typically seeking to stage scenes for filming against a Biblical backdrop (with matching scenery and architecture), but without the potential complications of filming in a more precarious or culturally-restrictive country. Despite Malta’s attractiveness as a filming locale, I’m nonetheless curious as to whether Chris and Maurice encountered any difficulties while filming here?

Chris is happy to elucidate: “The major difficulty when filming The Giant Deep Reds, believe it or not, was the weather. We faced rather turbulent seas, even when filming during the summer months. As regards to The Normans the biggest challenge was the creation of computer graphics. There were certain sites in Malta which were inaccessible as well.”

I enquire as to whether Chris has received any interesting responses and feedback from audience members after watching his films?

He recalls: “Yes, the reaction has always been positive. Not only locally but also from organisers of foreign competitions, most especially in the United States. Memorable comments were ‘we watched this feature documentary ‘til the end’ or ‘I didn’t know that’.”

Chris goes on to recount how some audience members were spurned into lively debate with one another after watching the historical accounts in The Normans. It is good to hear that Maltese films are fuelling (friendly) discourse the world over. After all, the medium of film ‒ even in its documentary guise ‒  is a subjective art form.

As such, shouldn’t it provoke emotional and intellectual enquiry from its audience?

Chris and Maurice’s work seems to be doing just that. Given their long track record in Malta, I ask whether the team has plans for any future productions.

Chris responds: “Yes, we have another two documentaries in the pipeline. Both will be feature documentaries and will also be historical set-pieces.”

When I ask for his opinion on the current state of the Maltese film industry, Chris is upbeat.

“One cannot deny the fact that there has been an all-round improvement in the film industry in Malta. The figures speak for themselves, and the income generated contributes to the Maltese economy.”

So there you have it. Two local film-makers continue to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Maltese islands both overseas and abroad. Here’s hoping that their future productions will be similarly well-received.

The Giant Deep Reds will air on One TV later this year.