A long road ahead | Peter Busuttil

It must be nice to have an office at the Birgu waterfront. I would imagine the daily grind to be a little less terrible when you’re overlooking the beautiful marina, and when you can brag of having a casino as one of your nearest ‘amenities’.

But when I make my way to the offices of the Film Commission at the Caraffa Stores, the weather is a steely grey, the air far too humid to breathe, and the marina itself – a polished tourist magnet flanked by vintage architecture – a bit diminished in glory by construction works. All this is made even less picturesque by the presence of half a dozen loud trucks crammed by the bastions.

But when Peter Busuttil, the newly-appointed Film Commissioner, greets me once I climb up the office stairs – where I’m met with posters and merchandise relating to some of the commission’s previous conquests, Agora and Troy – he assures me that the trucks are good news.

“They’re filming Sinbad next door,” he tells me – it’s a Sky1 production that will be using Malta for every single episode of its run.

And despite the muggy weather, his tone is jittery, hopeful. Sinbad is only one egg in the commission’s expanding basket, and it shows. Case in point: our interview is interrupted before it’s even begun, as Busuttil takes a phone call – which ends up lasting around 15 minutes – from an international producer. The conversation (at least from Busuttil’s end) moves to the predictable rhythm of any sales pitch: bullet-pointed proposals and potted factoids about Malta, punctuated by humorous asides and a healthy smattering of praise.

“Sorry about that Teodor,” Busuttil tells me, finally sitting down by his desk, which is stacked with forms (that appear to be, however, carefully sealed in plastic folders) and other paperwork.

“But this guy’s really important.”

Finally relaxing into interview mode, Busuttil fires away the commission’s priorities with brisk conviction.

“Basically, the Malta Film Commission, as an entity, has the task of being an ambassador for the Maltese film industry. We are obviously the first port of call for anybody interested in shooting a film in Malta. We deal with plenty of enquiries… liaising between both local and foreign companies when it comes to filming here. Basically we seek out to work with interesting and enticing people and obviously, whenever a promising production comes to Malta, it increases our cultural portfolio…”

Busuttil, however, is realistic about this idea – in fact, he almost dismisses it as a formality. Unsurprisingly, the immediate financial gains are more pertinent, especially considering the fact that the commission itself forms part of the Ministry of Finance.

“At the end of the day, it’s important that whenever a film comes here, it leaves money. Obviously, we make sure that Malta is included in the end credits and so on, but God knows when people will read those, if they do… OK, we make sure it’s there for posterity, but we need to focus on benefits that go beyond the ‘il-Allu it’s filmed in Malta!’ factor.” 

And while HBO’s series Game of Thrones – partly filmed in Dwejra to some controversy and based on George R.R. Martin’s popular cycle of fantasy novels – is hopefully increasing this profile as it stacks up the viewer ratings, Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B Entertainment has been casting extras locally these past couple of weeks, as zombie blockbuster World War Z is set to start filming here soon (Finance Minister Tonio Fenech confirmed that it will be funnelling €30 million into our coffers).

But while it’s the Hollywood cachet that inevitably garners the most attention, it’s the commission’s second priority that takes up a large bulk of our interview.

“A very important part of the commission’s work is the indigenous film industry…”

As soon as the words are mentioned, Busuttil – who was a fixture of both local theatre and television in the past – unwinds into asides and personal anecdotes, dropping any official airs he may have put on earlier (his sentences grow more clipped, hesitant as we go along). Clearly, this is an issue that strikes a personal chord, and one that appears to be in a very raw stage at the moment.

“We can’t be expected to babysit,” he says. ‘Babysit’ recurs several times, in slightly aggravated tones. “If you have the talent to do something, just do it. You can’t just complain… I mean, I do complain myself, don’t get me wrong: when it comes to theatre, for example, I can’t work here … but I don’t complain, I just work from abroad, and direct my energies here towards things I can earn money from… I’ve been a poor artist, but I’m 46 now and I can’t be a poor artist anymore…”

While the journey remains uncertain, the goal seems to be quite clear cut: the establishment of an indigenous film industry will be marked by the production of the very first “Maltese film,” by which Busuttil means a 90-minute or so feature which can be screened in mainstream cinemas both in Malta and abroad… which, according to Busuttil, doesn’t exist yet. Busuttil does flag up films like Il-Gagga, Genesis, and the more recent Kont Diga as potential contenders, but complains about how, for some reason or another, they are not very visible, nor easily available.

He also mentions some concrete measures that are already underway in this regard. Money will be funnelled in with help from the Malta Film Fund (I’m surprised by the amount of Soviet-like mini-institutions scattered across different industries, but all working towards film… though I’m assured that at the end of the day, it all works out); and training will be provided by the commission itself, as courses which are currently underway will tackle everything from pitching to scriptwriting to the financial aspect of the industry.

“We are also open to anyone who’s interested in any aspect of film to send in their CV, and speak to us. At this stage we’re small enough to be able to do that… but if you don’t have that passion in your belly, it isn’t going to work out. If you’re good as you think you are, prove it! Prove it, and go all the way! I tend to come across a lot of people who expect to simply have everything laid out for them on a plate… but let me tell you, even Brad Pitt had to lobby to get World War Z rolling…”

His tone shifts from an amused irritation to outright anger as he continues to list his pet peeves when it comes to aspiring local artists of any persuasion. He takes particular umbrage with the local music industry.

“Abroad, people have recorded entire concerts in their bedrooms, put them up on YouTube and became famous… what stops us from doing that? No! Because here we want to play a concert for 20,000 people. It’s the same with any other field, really: if we make a film we expect it to immediately get Oscars, if we play football we want to be Maradona…

“I think it boils down to the fact that we’re a very protected society. But we can’t carry on living in a world of fantasy. We are in the business of creating worlds of fantasy… but let’s put the fantasy into our creativity.”

For information about the Film Commission and details about the courses, log on to http://www.mfc.com.mt