Indigenous cinema should be top priority for new Film Commissioner, directors say

Busuttil was appointed Film Commissioner by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, after former Commissioner Luisa Bonello resigned, citing personal reasons.

But while members of the industry appear to be confident enough about Busuttil’s abilities in the cultural sphere, the need to establish a more detailed infrastructure to help local budding filmmakers appeared to be a key concern.

“Apart from promoting the servicing industry – the Film Commission’s raison d’être – I would expect the incumbent to keep up the momentum built by his predecessor in instilling a culture of quality, indigenous filmmaking,” film director Kenneth Scicluna said. Scicluna also expressed a desire for a more robust promotion of local films in international festivals.

“Building such assertiveness internationally would ease the transition of the current preference for the production of quality short films to that of features films that would stand their ground at festivals and on the marketplace,” Scicluna said.

Similarly, fellow film director Mark Dingli – of 2009’s independent production Kont Diga – emphasised the importance of training budding filmmakers; something that has already been initiated by the Commission with a course that began last October. 

“We need to start with education. A distinction needs to be made between film and TV – MCAST is not necessarily addressing film. That is not to say they are not doing a good job, it’s just different. Anyone interested in filmmaking at a young age should be able to study film at university or MCAST,” Dingli said.

On the film servicing front – i.e., the maintenance of foreign productions using Malta as a location – local casting director Edward Mercieca also emphasised the need for better training as a way to entrench professionalism in the local field.

“Training would give local staff better jobs on set. You’ll find Maltese Grips, for example, but not much beyond that,” Mercieca said. He also pointed out how, while Malta has been consistently attracting foreign productions – “our light is fantastic, and our outdoor locations are unique” – the lack of a proper sound stage remains an obstacle.

Busuttil, while emphasising that the Film Commission is “an entity of people and not just one person,” squarely laid out his list of priorities as being two-fold: to continue providing a high-quality service for foreign productions while fostering a culture of indigenous films.

“There’s also the ‘human’ element: people need to know what to look for as regards permits, and other logistical requirements. We’ll need to improve on this in order to offer the best service possible.”