The Valletta Film Festival has just launched this year’s programme & here are our top picks!
Listen up all you film fanatics! The 5th edition of the Valletta Film Festival will be happening between the 14th and the 23rd of June in Malta’s capital of Valletta. With nearly 100 films being presented this year, it surely isn’t one to miss!
5 of our top picks from this year’s VFF programme
1. Maradona
Maradona is a documentary film about the legendary footballer himself. Asif Kapadia who won an Oscar for Amy and a BAFTA for Senna (another docu-film about the famous race car driver), directed the film. This documentary was also just featured at the recent Cannes film festival, and the VFF are only the third film festival on the planet to show it!
2. The Traitor
Directed by the incredible Marco Bellocchio, The Traitor was also recently premiered in Cannes. The film depicts the story of the infamous mafia turncoat Tommasso Buschetta who was first Sicilian mafia boss turned pentito. He basically ratted out the mafia and the Buschetta families began dropping like flies. Quite the intriguing motion picture!
3. Portait of a Lady on Fire
Also premiered in Cannes a few weeks ago, Portrait of a Lady on Fire depicts a forbidden love between Marianne, a painter, and Heloise, a reluctant bride-to-be. Marianne is commissioned to paint Heloise so “she observes her by day and secretly paints her at night,” describes the VFF programme. “Intimacy and attraction grow between the two women as they share Heloise’s first and last moments of freedom, all whilst Marianne paints the portrait that will end it all.” Drama, I love it!
4. Aurora
This romantic comedy was featured at the Gothenburg festival and was a great hit. It’s a heart-warming and witty story set in Finland. Producer Max Malka, as well as actor Amir Escandari will also be present at the festival on the red carpet for the opening night and, later, for a Q&A session.
5. Tremors
Tremors was featured at the Berlin Film Festival a few months back. The film follows a role model christian whose traditional life begins to crack as he falls in love with a man, pitting his feelings with his beliefs. His family and church decide to do whatever it takes to “cure him” forcing him to supress his urges through conversion therapy. Director Jayro Bustamante will also be there for a Q&A session.
Cultural and social events to try out
1. Red carpet events will be held on Friday 14th and Saturday 22nd for the opening and closing events. The romantic comedy, Aurora will be screening during the opening while Maradona will close the festival’s activities.
2. Aperitivo nights will be held on certain evenings at different watering holes around the capital starting at 7pm at placed like Rosselli – AX Privilege, Streat Whiskey, and Kingsway. I mean, booze, films and fancy directors – a dream night!
3. A masterclass with the legendary Bela Tarr will also be held. He’s an acclaimed Hungarian film maker, considered one of the masters of world cinema, who started working in the '70s creating insightful, sometimes reactionary, work. His last film, Turin Horse, which one the Silver Bear at the Berlinale a few years back, will also be screened at the festival.
4. Director Liliana Cavani will be hosting an hour-long masterclass on Tuesday 18th June at the Valletta Campus Theatre. She will discuss the distinctive features of her craft of directing film and will include a Q&A session from the audience. She is best known for her 1974 erotic psychological thriller The Night Porter.
5. A kids weekend will also be held on the last two days of the festival (22nd and 23rd June) when Jacob, Mimmi and the Talking Dogs, Chequered Ninja, and Tito and the Birds (all dubbed in English) will be shown to children of various ages.
Watch the official promo video here:
The full programme of the Valletta Film Festival can be found here.