The Tourism Ministry has continued to refuse to answer questions about the cost of the Malta Film Awards, prompting The Malta Independent to file a Freedom of Information (FOI) request on the topic.

The Malta Film Awards were held on 29 January this year amid much fanfare, but the event’s extravagance raised questions from both filmmakers, some of whom even boycotted the event out of protest at its cost compared to the annual budget allocated to helping the local film industry, and in the political sphere.

The gala event reportedly went well over its €400,000 budget, but neither Film Commissioner Johann Grech nor Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo, under whose political remit the industry falls, have been forthcoming with answers about the actual cost of the event.

Questions sent by The Malta Independent three weeks ago, asking for the total government expenditure for the organisation of the event, and a breakdown of the costs, to whom they were paid and through which means of procurement (direct order, negotiated procedure, tender or otherwise) different services were acquired, have remained unanswered.

Likewise, a question on why Covid-19 protocols, such as the enforcement of mandatory mask wearing of attendees was seemingly non-existent, also went unanswered.

A number of audience members at the awards were seen maskless, despite Covid rules for seated events requiring that masks may only be removed when eating or drinking.

Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci had later said that health authorities were in contact with the Malta Tourism Authority, which, like the Film Commission, falls under Bartolo’s ministerial remit, which gives approvals for events following risk assessments over the deviances from events protocols.

It is not clear whether any fines were issued for breaches of the government’s Covid-19 health protocols.

Bartolo has meanwhile been similarly less open with answering when he was asked about the cost of the event in Parliament.

Bartolo told PN MPs who asked Parliamentary Questions two weeks ago and last week that information on the expenditure of the event was still being collected and he would not confirm or deny that the cost of the event had exceeded €2 million.

He also failed to react to claims that British comedian David Walliams, who hosted the event, had been paid over €200,000 for his services.

As a result, The Malta Independent has filed a FOI request seeking all the information and data on government’s expenditure, and to who money was paid in connection with the event.