Today, the Eden Cinemas in St Julian’s, together with Cleland & Souchet, will host the screening of a short film produced as a practicum for the Communications’ course at the University of Malta, the aim of which is to promote the art of the short film locally.

Written and directed by Joshua Cassar Gaspar, Good King Stefan, is an adaptation of the well-known tale of Sleeping Beauty. The short film tells the tragic tale of a king, a princess and an evil curse and runs for approximately 17 minutes. The cast includes Manuel Cauchi, Jon Rosser, Malcolm Galea, Stephanie Hodgkins, Elektra Anastasi and Chiara Hyzler.

Good King Stefan started out as Joshua’s practicum for the final year of his university course. However, it soon became an exciting venture for a total of 12 crew members, nine cast members and over 20 extras.

The film was shot in various locations including the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Casa Rocca Piccola and the Birgu bastions.

The support received during production was huge. The Manoel Theatre, Winter Moods, the University of Malta, location owners and other individuals with a love of film offered their help in various ways to make this project possible.

“The screening of the short film at Eden Cinemas means a lot to us, not only in so much as we get to see the finished film with everybody involved, and at a top quality venue, but also because it is an encouragement for future plans that we have.”

The whole learning experience would have not been possible without the help and support of everybody involved in the making of Good King Stefan. Everyone who became involved in the production did so in their own free time with the only payment being the satisfaction of participating in such a project, the first of many to come.

For further information, email [email protected]