The Malta Academy Selection Committee for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards (better known as the Academy Awards or Oscars) has issued an open call for local feature films released in 2021 to be submitted to participate in the 2022 Academy Awards, under the section ‘International Feature Film’. 

Deadline for submissions is noon on September 29.

Films must (i) be intrinsically produced by Maltese creatives; (ii) be over 40 minutes long; (iii) have a minimum of 50 per cent of the dialogue in a non-English language; and (iii) have been released in a commercial theatre (i.e. cinema, not TV) for at least seven consecutive days in 2021, in order to be eligible. 

Only one Maltese film may be submitted to the Academy Awards. A competitive process whereby eligible entries will be judged by a panel of film-savvy professionals will follow the submission stage. A single nominee will be announced prior to November 1. The selected candidate will then be able to participate in the 2022 Academy Awards.    

The Malta Academy Selection Committee has recently been approved by the US-based academy to fulfil the task of selecting a nomination from Malta to be submitted in the prestigious international competition.

The local committee is jointly spearheaded by the Malta Producers’ Association (MPA) and the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts association (MEIA).

The selection panel consists of 11 local individuals coming from a variety of diverse backgrounds related to or within the industry. Skill sets range from acting, directing, producing and cinematography as well expertise with computer generated images (CGI), to film critiquing and academia.

For more information on submissions, contact the committee on maltaacademyselectioncommittee@gmail.com.