From Ms E. R. Abela

“Parole, Parole, Parole”! was a song by the Italian singer Mina. And that is what I read in the Manic magazine, Issue 37, that came out with The Malta Independent on Sunday of 6 August.

I am referring to Raphael Vassallo’s article “Walk on the Westside”. After reading his entire article I do affirm that he was right in saying: “Or just that I’m a paranoid nut, intent on seeing conspirational connection in everything”, which reminds me of the John Nash character in the film A Beautiful Mind.

I am not trying to start a debate, but I want to clarify some points for those who did not see my short film ‘Katrina’ , (also broadcast on Net TV). Yes, I filmed, edited and produced ‘Katrina’ one of the local films participating in the ‘Westside Film Festival’.

Those who managed to see my short film know well that this film, contrary to what Mr Vassallo saw, does not narrate a historical event where “women wore the faldetta and men the berritta tal-pizz”, but narrates an internal conflict of a young girl, Katrina. Since I wanted the audience to feel Katrina’s conflict, and make it real, I had to place the events in a time-space, and the 1950s was the ideal period. Was I leaping Maltese Dolphins by doing so? Was Mario Puzo making the Italian Dolphins leap out when he wrote his novel The Godfather in the Mafia era? Were William Styron and Bridget Terry, the screenwriters of Shadrack wrong when they and other scriptwriters wrote and produced films based on the American Depression era?

In no way am I comparing my talents to any great producer/scriptwriter, but since my story needed a time-space, it was I who had to decide which era suited my story best. Also, I was not trying to make a Maltese version of the popular Australian TV series The Thorn Birds.

The film Katrina was produced primarily as part of my thesis for the Bachelor of Communications (Hons) at the University of Malta, and Mr Vassallo should know what a thesis consists of, since he was one of my lecturers during my years at university.

By the way, I am not disappointed or afraid of any criticism. Such criticism only makes me stronger. While I respect Mr. Vassallo’s opinion, I do not accept people using and twisting my production to criticise the Maltese mentality. If I wanted to do so, I could have done it myself.

If Mr Vassallo wanted to criticise my film, he could have criticised my camerawork, my lighting, my editing, my props, my locations and how emotions were transmitted through the visuals and not through dialogue. If he was not blindfolded by seeing everything in a “conspirational connection”, he could have noticed that the kids playing the part were not “running around barefooted”. Both Mauro and Raissa, although they never studied acting, performed their respective parts in a very natural way, as did the other actors.

To conclude, I want to invite Mr Vassallo to watch my film again, but this time, with a fresh clear mind. Then he will notice that my production was not a narration of historical events, but the growth of a character.

Eleonora Rose Abela