The Film Grain Foundation is appealing to the government to stop state cultural institutions from organising events themselves and focus on supporting and promoting cultural entrepreneurs, artists and filmmakers to develop, exhibit and/or perform their work.
The foundation was reacting to yesterday’s release of Valletta Cultural Agency’s event ‘Cinema City’ which is taking place in this month; the same month in which usually the Valletta Film Festival takes place.
“Film Grain Foundation notes with disappointment that only months after stopping its financial support to the Valletta Film Festival the Government has now launched an outdoor cinema event to be held in the same month when Valletta Film Festival was due to take place,” it said in a statement.
The much anticipated Valletta Film Festival was created by the Film Grain Foundation a few years back which is an NGO established to promote the appreciation of film in Malta through various projects and collaborations with state entities.
Since 2015 the foundation organised five editions of the Valletta Film Festival, making Malta part of the international film festival circuit.
The festival attracted around 50,000 patrons and showcased over 500 feature and short films at various outdoor and indoor venues around Malta and Gozo. The festival exhibited various local films and supported local filmmakers at other top tier festivals and markets such as Berlinale - Berlin International Film Festival, Festival du courtmétrage de Clermont-Ferrand and Sunny Side of the Doc in France.
Notably, this year, Arts Council Malta slashed the funding for the Valletta Film Festival to just 30% of what it normally is, making it impossible to host the annual festival.
“The Foundation calls on the Government to immediately stop cultural institutions like Valletta Cultural Agency and the Malta Film Commission (and others like Malta Tourism Authority) from continuing organising cultural events themselves and ensure that they focus mainly on supporting cultural entrepreneurs, artists and filmmakers to develop, exhibit and/or perform their work,” the foundation demanded.
It explained that such support should only be distributed following properly promoted public calls and be adjudicated by independent professionals in a transparent and accountable manner.
“Film Grain Foundation remains committed to continue fostering cinema appreciation in Malta through the organisation of Valletta Film Festival and other events,” it concluded.
The launch of Cinema City has also received backlash from local creatives, such as actor and comedian Thomas Camilleri who has been very vocal about this “really embarrassing” situation.
Camilleri expressed his disappointment towards the Arts Council Malta’s decision to drastically cut down funding for the Valletta Film Festival only for the Valletta Cultural Agency – which he sarcastically referred to as “architects of such cultural wonders as the €50k infiorata that was available to watch via a webcam” – to launch Cinema City.
He also discredited the American films that will be showcased in Cinema City as they do not come close to the cultural value of the films that are presented during the Valletta Film Festival which display some of Malta’s most historic landmarks.
The films that will be shown during the event are; Jurassic World ,World War Z, The Greatest Showman, Captain Phillips and 13 Hours: The Secret of the Soldiers of Benghazi.
Culture Venture Founder and Director Toni Attard has also shared his sentiments on these films, delineating what is wrong with having the European Capital of Culture legacy organisation, supported by two Ministries and a film commission, choosing such films.
Firstly, this shows a lack of understanding legacy and the value of cultural NGOs. “If lack of public funding stopped this edition from happening, the least the political conglomerate could have done is reach out. Instead they ignore it, replace it by throwing taxpayers money at a cheap quick fix and compete with what multiplex cinemas already do.”
There is also a problem with Cinema City having free entrance which reinforces the idea that culture is a just a freebie – “until then, the independent arts sector struggles to survive with limited alternatives to the politically designed offering.”
Finally, the event shows a lack of understanding programming and policy.
“It has long been understood that taxpayers money for culture is important to ensure artistic diversity. As a member of the EU, we subscribe to the value and importance of promoting European film.” Attard said while pointing out that cinema statistics have shown that 91.2% of screenings in Malta last year were of American films.
“Instead of addressing this imbalance, the political conglomerate organises 100% American screenings. If a capital of culture legacy organisation can't understand this then there's no legacy to pursue,” he contemplated. “They may just be five movies over four nights but small actions can have significant intentions and consequences. The writing is on the wall.”