Malta has over the decades become a trusted destination in international film production. Behind every production shot on our shores, from large scale movies to more modest independent films, TV series or reality shows, is a small army of Maltese and Gozitan professionals, without whom no production could function.
Producers who lead the charge and keep the industry's cogs turning, location scouts who know every corner of these islands, set builders and artisans who create visions out of plaster and timber, set decorators, and artists, costume and make-up teams, technicians, coordinators and crew. Over the decades, they have built and defended a stellar reputation for professionalism that international producers have come to rely on completely.
This talent, which was cultivated across successive administrations, deserves recognition, and continued investment. What it does not deserve is to have its reputation undermined by the way the institution meant to safeguard it is currently being run.
The Malta Film Commission exists to serve this industry and the people who make it work. Instead, it has become a case study in how not to manage public funds. The National Audit Office has repeatedly flagged serious governance failures at the Commission.
Invoices exceeding the threshold requiring ministerial approval processed without any documented sign-off. Contracts with service providers simply not existing. The Commission's own accounts for 2020 were only finalised in October 2023, while those for 2021 and 2022 followed a full year later, in October 2024, delays the Auditor General himself described as running contrary to the Commission's legal obligations.
The Malta Film Week of 2022 is a case in point. Budgeted at €400,000, it ended up costing in the region of €1.3 million, more than three times what had been approved. When questioned in the Public Accounts Committee about a budget allocation that ballooned by several million euro beyond what had been sanctioned, the Commissioner's explanation did not put anyone's mind at rest. Meanwhile, decisions such as paying €120,000 for David Walliams to host the awards ceremony, ring odd. Sadly, we still don't know what Mr Walliams was paid for the successive years, or what Jack Whitehall was paid for this year's presenting duties.
Then there is the Mediterrane Film Festival, now approaching its fourth edition, which costs have crept from an initial estimate of under €4 million to around €5 million, again confirmed by the Commissioner himself. The Auditor General found that the way the Commission organises large-scale events of this kind falls significantly short on transparency.
Perhaps most troubling of all was what happened when Parliament itself tried to get answers. In October, Government members on the Public Accounts Committee voted to block further questioning of the Commissioner, despite a ruling from the Speaker that had identified information still missing and left the decision on further scrutiny to the committee. That is not how accountability is supposed to work in a functioning democracy.
None of this is an argument against the film industry, and it is certainly not an argument against the cash rebate scheme that has helped build it. That scheme was introduced by a Nationalist Government back in 2005, precisely because we understood the industry's potential.
Meanwhile, an announced construction of a proper sound stage, crucial infrastructure for the industry remains just that - announced.
The industry should be strengthened, through investment, and proper management. An industry generating hundreds of millions of euro deserves a governing body that can account, transparently and promptly, for every cent it spends.
The people who build Malta's reputation on film sets do so with skill, discipline and pride. The institution meant to represent them owes them nothing less in return.
Marilena Gauci is Opposition spokesperson for the film industry.