"I have had the pleasure of working with Ruben before and I have followed his work over the years," says filmmaker Kenneth Scicluna. "So, when he first broached the idea of staging a multi-disciplinary take on Kafka's Metamorphosis, I was immediately intrigued and excited."

In Zahra's interpretation, the narrative and performances fuelling Kafka's Insect will be presented through a cycle of video-art scenes, accompanied by a live piano score and modular analog synthesisers. Scicluna observes that, as an artist, Zahra had already evolved beyond composing contemporary music to embracing various forms of artistic expression and, from the outset, already had a fairly clear idea of how the adaptation of Kafka's story would evolve.

"Ruben recognised that Kafka's Insect had its aesthetic seeds sown in the aural cues given by the author himself in his text, and that it would present an interaction between live piano and filmed vignettes," continues Scicluna. "These elements would provide counterpoint in terms of both the visuals and the sounds around which they revolve."

Scicluna notes that early on in the creative process, Zahra wanted to acquire a vintage lens that would help the visuals accrue an aura that felt far from modern. "And so he did," he exclaims, "eventually settling on a recreation of a 19th century Charles Chevalier lens, designed for the Daguerreotype camera. Perhaps the biggest shift I saw between initial thoughts and the end result was in the animation process - the upshot of which was that Ruben ended up with a menagerie of exotic beetles," he adds with a laugh.

Scicluna's resumé boasts myriad award-winning film projects. Kafka's Insect must have been quite different to what he was used to and likely presented a fair set of challenges. "Well, while the overall production is, certainly, a feat remarkable in nature, scope and heft, the filmmaking aspect was rather simpler than my own work," he opines. "Not least because Ruben was handling the directorial aspect himself and my role was to help with the planning and the running of the shoot. That is not to say that there were no challenges at all, but I cannot really take credit for solving them."

Indeed, the creative team behind Kafka's Insect boasts some instantly recognisable names from Malta's creative sector. Architect and designer Adrian Mamo built the set on the stage at the Catholic Institute. Sound guru Aleksandar Bundalo found ways of recording every creak of the floorboards, "sometimes disappearing for stretches on end, seeking out sweet-spots for his microphones", recalls Scicluna.

Cinematographer Matthew Muscat Drago was ever flexible in his approach to the period feel that Ruben wanted, while John Preca-Trapani helped stretch resources in so far as the lighting was concerned. "And we could go on... the antique props, the costumes, the make-up, the actors themselves. It was indeed a pleasure to work with so many wonderful, convivial people on the project," the filmmaker smiles.

Scicluna hopes that audiences will enjoy the rare confluence of various forms of art that Kafka's Insect will offer. "Not only at that particular moment, on that particular stage, but also in the bridge spanning the 105 years separating this production from the birth of the source material," he says. "It has a prophetic name in various respects, echoing the journey of the other illustrious works of literature with a similar name - Ovid's Metamorphoses - which too offered itself for mutation and adaptation in various guises, including film; but also mirroring how the elements shift within the production. It is the very act of metamorphosis, from one form, shape or sense, to another, that marks this work.

"Kafka's Insect should not be sought for any singular element nor as a mere conflation. It is not a concert, it is not a theatrical performance, it is not a film; the total is greater than the sum of all these parts," says Scicluna in conclusion, acknowledging that this promises to be no ordinary production and one that is set to challenge and intrigue audiences in equal measure.

'Kafka's Insect' is supported by Arts Council Malta - Malta Arts Fund and was premiered online on 12 February. You can enjoy the full performance of 'Kafka's Insect' on the project facebook page: www.facebook.com/kafkasinsect