In a space of one week, we have been hit by at least two stories which have continued to undermine peoples’ lack of trust in the direction the country has taken.

First we had the out of this world celebration of the film awards. We have heard how guests have been jetted in at first class level, taken here and there by luxury taxis, housed in five-star hotels etc.

And then the receptions, one on top of the former knights’ hospital and the other in the restored Fort Manoel. With oysters and other choice delicacies on the menu.

We were then inundated with photos of some of the guests who were proud to tell all they were there, what dresses they wore, etc. With all due respect, I fail to see why they had to be invited and what added value they can bring to the film industry in Malta. But who am I to begrudge them such a freebie?

I have found no less than 15 such festivals just in July but am ready to wager that none of them even approached the opulence shown in Malta – the Galway film festival, the Marseille Festival, the Karlovy Vary one, the Over-The-Rhine International Film festival, the Jerusalem Film festival etc. And none of the searches mentioned the Maltese film festival.

Then in August there will be the greats – Locarno , Sarajevo, Edinburgh, and of course Venice.

The Maltese ministers who have a hand fight shy of showing the cost. Some have spoken of €1 million spent on this bash. Others hiked the costs up to €2.5 millions. Until we have ascertained the real cost all speculation is legitimate.

The minister for tourism glibly tied the success to any high-profile blockbuster which might be attracted. That remains to be seen.

What is already clear is the shameful lack of support by Malta of its own small but creative and even successful film industry. I am not speaking here of not being invited for the oysters but rather of being starved of contacts and support.

The film industry in Malta has a long history of failures although there have been successes too. An article this week pinpointed some glaring failures in Nationalist times.

When the oysters and the delicacies have been digested, what remains? There is a huge and extensive industry around catering which the government continues to pander to but that, we must remember, is an ancillary sector. The main items tend to be brought in from abroad and the Maltese relegated to third level. And as long as the Maltese in the sector continue to be sidelined by the Maltese authorities themselves, what’s to persuade the other countries to prioritise Malta or to allow Maltese film-makers to flourish?

There has been, once again, the preferment of those who hire out themselves to Labour Party electoral events. That seems to be the main qualification now even if the list includes people who made it good in PN times.

Which brings me straight to the second scandal of the week – the hosting by the First Family of the participants of the Love Island Malta version of the raunchy bikini-ed Millennials with no hang-ups as regarding morality and the like.

The poor Inquisitor who built the palace at Girgenti must have been turning over in his tomb, as he must have been over the past decades as the chapel was turned into a restaurant. And now he had to suffer the added ignominy of bikini-clad nymphs ranging all over the place with the 11-year old first daughter, in bikini too, mingling around.

This is the head of the government which has just skimmed the abortion clause to a level acceptable to the anti-abortion cohort.

And so it goes on, swinging from side to side and trimming the sails according to what the polls say.

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