Celluliod conquest is imminent | Rebecca Cremona

The Maltese are perhaps right to point out in their saying that “essence is found in smaller bottles,” (l-essenza tinsab fi fliexken zghar). Without sounding nationalistic, the fact remains that in our smallness, this little island-state produces talent that’s disproportionate to its own geographical reality.

Personalities like tenor Josef Calleja, sopranos Antoinette Miggiani and Miriam Gauci, clay shooter William Chetcuti, lateral thinker Edward de Bono, music director Brian Schembri, violinist Carmine Lauri, power boat champion Aaron Ciantar, horse jockey Charles Degiorgio, footballer Michael Mifsud, and singer Marc Storace all pride themselves of a Maltese passport, not to also mention the late Oreste Kirkop.

Not bad for an island-nation that some separatist Italian politician once insultingly described as a “spittal” in the midst of the Mediterranean.

We may perhaps not be known everywhere, but I assure you that we are known to those who matter.
Talent is an asset that is personal and you take it with you everywhere, and when it reaches as far as Hollywood… I need say no more.

26-year-old Rebecca Cremona is set to attain that goal as she climbs the ladder towards consolidating herself among the ‘respected’ posse of the film industry.

At such a young age, Rebecca is already a first-class graduate in Film and Literature from the University of Warwick, and has worked closely with the camera departments of Steven Spielberg’s movie Munich in 2005, and Alejandro Amenabar’s Agora in 2008.

Throughout these two films Rebecca’s talent didn’t go unnoticed, with senior Hollywood producers recommending her to develop her directorial style.

That recommendation led Rebecca through the doors of what is perhaps the film industry’s most prestigious cinema school: the American Film Institute Conservatory (AFI) in LA which served as yet another enriching experience, as well as a further recommendation to improve by shifting to the Art Centre College of Design in LA, where famed directors and producers were formed. Notable alumni include Roger Avary (Director of Rules of Attraction and co-writer Pulp Fiction), Michael Bay (producer and director of Armageddon, Transformers and Bad Boys series, Pearl Harbour), Ron Osborne (writer of Meet Joe Black), Stephen Poster (cinematographer for Donnie Darko), Zach Snyder (director of 300 and Watchmen) and Tarsem Singh (director of The Cell and The Fall).

Inside AFI, Rebecca was basically amongst the best from all over the industry, and her main task was not to be just a simple number.

Her hard work paid off: she received her Masters.

During this time, Rebecca has written, directed and produced short films, one of them being Magdalene, which has garnered considerable praise so far, and has had the privilege of being screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Having received both an Emmy and a Directors Guild award, it is now up for grabs among major TV networks around the globe for airing in 2011.

“Magdalene is a movie I enjoyed writing, directing and producing, because it’s a tale about a dream come true, based on a 1930 drama in Pasadena, a city where many had flocked to seek fame and fortune.”

A glimpse at the film’s trailer shows that Rebecca means business.

This movie is brilliantly shot against the stylish art deco shutters of a Pasadena home, with a piano as a focus for Magdalene’s melancholy. It’s a tale about the American dream gone wrong.

Between one film festival and another, Rebecca is gaining ground in the industry and together with her colleague – the cinematographer Chris Freilich – has now embarked on a major project which is set to edge Malta further into the Hollywood spotlight.

Simshar, scheduled for shooting in March of next year, is a multi-million euro movie based on the true story of a tragedy that shocked the island two years ago.

The franco-maltese production will focus on the sensitive subject of “massive population movement” from Africa to Europe and the consequences on Malta.

For this film, which Rebecca has scripted, involved long hours of research and discussion with Simon Bugeja, the sole survivor of the Simshar tragedy.

“Simshar will portray life in Malta and all its contrasts; from the simplicity of the fishermen, to its cosmopolitan lifestyles and the dilemma of acceptance by the Maltese of human tragedy surrounding hundreds of migrants that reach its shores.

“I have learnt that when the Simshar went down, the survivors were are sea for days before they succumbed to their fate, and passing by trawlers believed they were migrants and refused to rescue them on that pretext…to me that is a shocking reality that must be translated into film.”

There is a tremendous human side to Rebecca, which will be evident in the film through a romantic sub plot that develops between an Eritrean migrant woman and a Maltese soldier.

“Through my research I have come to terms with the entity of the human tragedy surrounding the Simshar, the migrants that make the treacherous crossing and the social pressures such a phenomenon poses on a small society like Malta.”

Simshar will be shot in various locations around the island, with rumor having it that the main protagonist will be the upcoming major actor Denis Menochet, who recently worked with Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz and Michael Fassbender in Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning Inglourious Basterds.

With this movie, Rebecca is risking an arm and a leg.

She is determined to put all her energy into it. A lot of preparatory work has been undertaken for the project. Location scouting is done and work has been completed on the colour-coding of shades, reflecting the Maltese limestone, sun and sea.

“We are working to make this movie an important piece of 2011/12.”

I ask her about the rumors that long established film company Pathe’ – the driving force behind some of the most critically acclaimed films of our generation, including The Virgin Suicides, The Blair Witch Project and Slumdog Millonare – will be involved in the co-production.

But Rebecca prefers not to answer the question, insisting that work related to the financing of the production and its distribution remains the most difficult.

“Finding financing for a movie is perhaps the most daunting prospect a film director and producer can face.

“It’s hard because you firstly have to believe in your project and extend that vision to your prospective investor, who definitely looks at the return he expects…”

While it consoles me to know that Simshar has already attracted private Maltese investment and is set to qualify for governmental funds, Rebecca remains discreet about the current discussions.

“The film industry can be ludicrous just as much as it can be disastrous, so my job is to make a good, enjoyable film, that in turn will make all the investors, crew and the people who watch it satisfied.”

This film may well be considered as an important node in Rebecca’s career.

Once completed, this production is touted to be Malta’s entry to the Oscar’s Foreign Film category. With luck, it might just make it to the final nominations for Best Foreign Film in 2011/2012.