“The film Dear Dom may be described as a genuine and responsible attempt to give a factual account of events during Dom Mintoff’s years in power and producer Pierre Ellul should be lauded for his effort. This film deserves full marks and seeing it is a must for everyone.”

Fr Joe Abela, who some years ago was part of the Church’s Film Classification Board, gave this evaluation when asked by The Malta Independent to air his views about this documentary film which is stirring controversy and may also be the source of a legal dispute between the production team and Yana Mintoff Bland, daughter of the former Prime Minister.

Fr Abela said the film gives a true account of events through the use of footage from local and foreign archives. A particular source of controversy was the choice of the people interviewed in the film, which include former Labour Minister Lino Spiteri, former PN Parliamentary Secretary Joe Psaila Savona, and other people from various walks of life who gave contrasting accounts of their experiences of the Mintoffian years, including the Cassar Torregiani family whose late father owned the National Bank. Fr Abela said their overall contribution in the film represents a factual account expressed in a responsible manner.

Regarding a series of events depicting the political violence during the 1970s and 1980s, Fr Abela said that the use of computer generated graphics was an intelligent way to deal with this politically sensitive aspect of the film, which nevertheless had to be included as it is part of our recent political.

“The fact is that as everybody else Mintoff had his good and less good qualities, depending also on one’s political perspectives. While for some, Mintoff was the only one capable of standing up to the British to accept his demands for the benefit of Malta, others disagreed completely with his methods. Other politicians maybe had their own ways in trying to achieve their goals,” affirmed Fr Abela.

Hailing from the city of Cospicua, Fr Abela reveals that on a personal level the film managed to revive his childhood memories. He recalled the political rallies during which Mintoff used to address the jubilant crowds and the fascination with which he used to convey his message to the masses.

Though he was never personally close to Mintoff, Fr Abela recalls a particular event going back to 1979 when he became a priest. “I had invited Dom Mintoff, who at the time was not only Prime Minister but at his peak in his political career, to attend to a reception on the occasion of my ordination as priest. Though he could not attend, he had sent me a card with Lm5 inside, which for me meant a lot. For me Mintoff was above anything else a man of integrity,” Fr Abela said.

He also expressed his strong views about the way the film was portrayed in various talk shows on television, and said it is totally unfair to do an evaluation based on a few snippets from the film. “The film has to be considered as a whole and if it is taken out of context, it will not give a clear picture of the message it is trying to convey,” he said.

Besides being a keen film enthusiast Fr Abela – a priest since 1979 – for some time was the Head of the Church’s Film Classification Board. He vigorously makes his point that he was never part of a censorship board. “My role was to give an assessment on behalf of the Church of the upcoming films in local cinemas and try to categorize which audience they suited best” he explained.

However his contribution in this board only lasted for some time, after he expressed his personal opinion in favour of the play Stitching when testifying in court in front of Mr Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon in 2009. Subsequently the Civil Court had ruled that the Film and Stage Classification Board (a totally different body from the Church’s Board) did not violate freedom of expression when it had banned the play Stitching.

Fr Abela claims that some sections of the local media had published a report which had unjustly interpreted his position as an official blessing from the Church’s Film Classification Board. He added that this fuelled a reaction from the Church’s hierarchy which eventually led to his dismissal from the Board. This was done through a mobile call, on a Saturday – the same day the report was published in The Times.

After some lapse of time, together with Doriette Schembri, Fr Abela now is actively evaluating films being shown in local cinemas through their website www.lemha.net. The verdict given to Dear Dom is ‘five-star’ which according to the website’s yardstick means “one of the best films, which one ought to watch”.

“Whereas when I formed part of the Church’s film classification I was imparting a moral judgement, now our evaluations are from an artistic point of view,” concluded Fr Abela.