Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta Announces Full Program

The Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta is returning for its third version with greater than 40 movies from over 20 nations. Running from June 21-29 within the island’s capital, Valletta, the pageant has set programming for its Competition, Out of Competition and Mare Nostrum sections.

Competition movies will embody Uberto Pasolini’s “The Return,” starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche; Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s directorial debut, “Hot Milk,” “For the Love of a Woman” (Per amore di una donna) from Italian director Guido Chiesa; “Harvest” from Athina Rachel Tsangari; and Maltese director Joshua Cassar Gaspar’s “The Theft of the Caravaggio.”

Out of competitors particular screenings will embody Ira Sachs’ “Peter Hujar’s Day” with Ben Wishaw and Rebecca Hall, the Malta-set erotic thriller “Compulsion” by Neil Marshall, “Four Letters of Love” with Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne and “Time Travel is Dangerous,” narrated by Stephen Fry.

A sidebar part with FilmItalia will rejoice new Italian ladies filmmakers, with picks together with “Diva Futura,” “Gloria!” and “Love and Glory – The Long Deledda.”

The Mare Nostrum part, which means “Our Sea,” returns with six movies exploring the local weather disaster and environmental themes together with “Lowland Kids,” “How Deep is Your Love” and “Transamazonia.”

Elli Griff, Rick Carter and Catherine Hardwicke are among the many jury members who may even take part in Masterclasses through the pageant together with director Joe Carnahan, producer Jeremy Thomas and Glenn Gainor, head of bodily manufacturing at Amazon Original Movies.

The Golden Bee Awards on June 29 will rejoice 100 years of cinema in Malta, held on the historic 18th century Fort Manoel. The pageant is led by the brand new inventive staff of Festival Director Ray Calleja and Festival Curator Mark Adams, and the theme of this 12 months’s occasion is “We Are Film.”

See the complete movie program under:

MAIN COMPETITION

The Return (dir. Uberto Pasolini)
Uberto Pasolini’s The Return reunites The English Patient co-stars, Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes and Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche in a powerfully authentic and psychologically revealing adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey. After 20 years away, Odysseus (Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. The King has returned from the Trojan War, however a lot has modified in his kingdom. His beloved spouse Penelope (Binoche) is a prisoner in her own residence, hounded by suitors vying to be king and planning the dying of Telemachus, the son he by no means knew. Shattered by his expertise of conflict, Odysseus should rediscover his power with a view to win again all that he has misplaced.

Hot Milk (dir. Rebecca Lenkiewicz)
Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Deborah Levy, this directorial debut by Rebecca Lenkiewicz sees Sofia and her ailing mom, Rose, journey to the Spanish seaside city of Almería to hunt the assistance of Dr. Gómez, an enigmatic healer who could maintain the important thing to Rose’s mysterious sickness. As long-buried tensions simmer between them, Sofia finds herself drawn to the magnetic and free-spirited Ingrid.

For the Love of a Woman (Per amore di una donna) (dir. Guido Chiesa)
Written and directed by Guido Chiesa: A powerful and unbiased lady who hides a painful previous.

Harvest (dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari)
Athina Rachel Tsangari’s (Attenberg, Chevalier) hanging adaptation of Jim Crace’s acclaimed novel finds an idyllic rural neighborhood coming beneath menace from outsiders. Over seven hallucinatory days, a village with no title, in an undefined time and place, disappears. Townsman-turned-farmer Walter Thirsk and befuddled lord of the manor Charles Kent are childhood associates about to face an invasion from the surface world: the trauma of modernity.

The Theft of the Caravaggio (dir. Joshua Cassar Gaspar)
Orpheus wakes to find a priceless Caravaggio portray stolen from St. John’s Cathedral in Valletta whereas beneath his watch. With the town on edge, a detective is introduced in from Washington to assist the native police in fixing the case.

Where The Wind Comes From (dir. Amel Guellaty)
Amel Guellaty’s long-awaited function debut is a sturdy and cinematic feast. The Tunisian-born director, screenwriter and photographer, who directed the critically acclaimed quick Black Mamba follows rebellious 19-year-old Alyssa and shy 23-year-old Mehdi who dream of escaping their actuality. Upon discovering a contest providing an opportunity to flee, they embark on a highway journey to southern Tunisia, overcoming obstacles alongside the best way.

Fiume o Morte! (dir. Igor Bezinovic)
Winner of the IFFR 2025 Tiger Award, director Igor Bezinović’s meta documentary restages a weird episode in Rijeka’s historical past, when it was positioned beneath nationalist occupation by the Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio. On 12 September 1919, a troop of some 300 troopers beneath the management of the flamboyant conflict loving poet D’Annunzio swooped into the port city of Fiume, now Rijeka, desirous to annex the town to Italy. Over the course of 16 months, throughout what’s thought to be one of the vital weird militant sieges of all time, his official pictures staff captured over 10,000 photographs. A century later, Rijeka-born filmmaker Igor Bezinović, together with some 300 residents, orchestrates a direct-action historical past lesson centered on the siege and its modern-day implications.

The Wound (dir. Seloua El Gouni)
Leila, a younger Moroccan woman who simply entered the workforce, tries to pursue her passions and ambitions whereas navigating the thorny societal constraints imposed on ladies beneath the guise of custom and cultural normalcy. Winner – Best Debut Feature Film on the Athens International Art Film Festival, Greece

Reflection in a Dead Diamond (dir. Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani)
John D, a septuagenarian residing in a luxurious resort on the French Riviera, is intrigued by his feminine neighbour who reminds him of the wild occasions spent there through the Nineteen Sixties, when he was a spy in a altering world filled with promise. One day, his neighbour mysteriously disappears and leaves John to face his demons once more: are his former adversaries again to sow chaos in his idyllic world?

8 (dir. Julio Medem)
Octavio and Adela have been born on the identical day, April 14th, 1931. During the next 8 many years, their lives will intertwine by way of intense encounters and misunderstandings in 8 episodes. A passionate love story between a courageous and preventing lady and a person confronted along with his contradictions. They must face coming from households on opposing sides of a rustic slowly heading in the direction of a Civil War, together with the historical past of Spain and Europe as a background.

OUT OF COMPETITION

Peter Hujar’s Day (dir. Ira Sachs)
Based on a richly cinematic rendering of a dialog recorded in 1974 between photographer Peter Hujar and author Linda Rosenkrantz the movie, starring Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall, re-imagines their speak that day in a single 24-hour interval within the lifetime of Hujar, the sensible and famously uncompromising artist who was one of the vital necessary figures in downtown New York’s legendary cultural scene of the Seventies and Eighties.

Compulsion (dir. Neil Marshall)
On the island of Malta, two ladies turn out to be concerned in an intense affair, a lethal recreation of cat and mouse and a string of horrifying murders.

Time Travel is Dangerous
Real-life greatest associates Ruth and Megan run a classic store in Muswell Hill. When they stumble throughout a time machine, they begin taking quick journeys into the previous to ‘borrow’ distinctive objects to promote within the current. They’re not out to vary historical past or rob banks — simply on the hunt for the proper classic lamp… all whereas attempting to keep away from the terrifying time-space vortex generally known as the Unreason. Ruth Syratt and Megan Stevenson play themselves, with their precise classic store, Cha Cha Cha, featured within the movie. The movie options an all-star British comedy forged, together with Johnny Vegas, Jane Horrocks, Sophie Thompson, Mark Heap, Brian Bovell, Tony Way, Guy Henry, and Tom Lenk — and is narrated by Stephen Fry.

The Extraordinary Miss Flower (dir. Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard)
The Extraordinary Miss Flower brings to life the exceptional story of Geraldine Flower and the invention of a suitcase filled with passionate, heartfelt letters of affection despatched to her within the 60s and 70s that impressed acclaimed Icelandic singer/songwriter Emilíana Torrini to return to the studio and document a complete album of latest songs. Part movie, half theatre, half fever dream, the movie takes the type of a collection of specifically designed performances of those songs by Emilíana and her band, mixed with dramatic scenes and readings from the letters by well-known actors and musicians (together with Caroline Catz, Nick Cave, Alice Lowe and Richard Ayoade).

Gloria! (dir. Margherita Vicario)
In singer-songwriter Margherita Vicario’s lovely and rousing musical movie, a bunch of confined younger ladies in 18th century Venice use their musical abilities to interrupt free. Gloria! is a hovering feel-good musical reimagining of historical past a few group of younger ladies musicians who invent pop music in Baroque-era Venice. Set in a convent boarding college, the movie follows Teresa who has visionary musical skills however whose present stays unsung. Ahead of a go to to the convent by the Pope, Teresa helps to create a musical rebellion and leaps throughout the centuries to defy the dusty previous regime by inventing a rebellious, gentle, and fashionable music: pop!

Love and Glory – The Young Deledda (L’amore e la gloria – La giovane Deledda) (dir. Maria Grazia Perria)
Screenwriter and documentary filmmaker Maria Grazia Perria’s narrative function directorial debut is a delicate, clever and arresting biopic of the youth and creative struggles of Sardinian novelist Grazia Deledda. The first Italian lady to obtain the Nobel Prize for Literature, she is portrayed right here with no small quantity of ardour by Marisa Serra.

The Ballad of Wallis Island (dir. James Griffiths)
The Ballad of Wallis Island follows Charles (Tim Key), an eccentric lottery winner who lives alone on a distant island and desires of getting his favourite musicians, McGwyer Mortimer (Tom Basden & Carey Mulligan) again collectively. His fantasy turns into actuality when the bandmates and former lovers settle for his invitation to play a non-public present at his dwelling on Wallis Island. Old tensions resurface as Charles tries desperately to salvage his dream gig.

This City is a Battlefield (Perang Kota) (dir. Mouly Surya)
Isa, a taciturn college instructor working for the resistance, is tasked with finishing up an assassination with the assistance of Hazil, an enthralling insurgent who finds himself falling for Isa’s spouse, Fatimah. An beautiful interval thriller that marries sensual romantic drama with propulsive motion spectacle, Mouly Surya’s fifth function recreates life in Jakarta beneath colonial occupation in fastidious element, unveiling it in all its seductive and brutal textures.

About a Hero (dir. Piotr Winiewicz)
After an area manufacturing unit employee named dies beneath mysterious circumstances, Werner Herzog travels to Getunkirchenburg to research his perplexing dying. But Herzog, our narrator, is just not who he appears, and the movie is just not what we anticipate. About a Hero is an adaptation of a script written by AI, educated on Herzog’s physique of labor. Opening the distinguished 2024 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), and co-starring Vicky Krieps and Stephen Fry, the documentary is paradoxically self-reflective. As the thriller unfolds, director Piotr Winiewicz intertwines the narrative with a collection of ‘real’ interviews with artists, philosophers and scientists reflecting on the notion of originality, authenticity, mortality and soul within the age of AI.

MARE NOSTRUM

How Deep is Your Love (dir. Eleanor Mortimer)
Scientists discover the mysterious deep sea to gather and title undiscovered species. As they uncover mesmerizing creatures and ecosystems thriving in darkness, a looming menace emerges: the prospect of deep-sea mining on this untouched wilderness. British director Eleanor Mortimer’s movie weaves marvel with urgency, difficult us to steadiness the drive for sources with the intrinsic worth of an ecosystem. As we journey by way of this breathtaking realm, we’re left to ponder – how deep is our love?

Transamazonia (dir. Pia Marais)
In the eerie quiet of the huge, verdant Amazon jungle, a younger woman stirs to life. Rescued by the native Indigenous tribe, the kid, Rebecca, is the one survivor of a aircraft crash. Years cross, and Rebecca (Helena Zengel) has turn out to be one thing of an area superstar after her father (Jeremy Xido), an American missionary, has forged {the teenager} as a religion healer able to miracles. Just as Rebecca is starting to have a will of her personal, doubting her father and the function through which she’s been forged, one other disaster emerges when unlawful loggers encroach on the land, threatening the livelihoods of the native tribe, and forcing emotional, familial, and racial reckonings. South Africa–born director Pia Marais has customary a mesmerizing, entrancingly photographed ethical story with no simple solutions that can be a singular coming-of-age fable.

Black Butterflies (dir. David Baute)
David Baute’s fantastically animated movie tells the person tales of Tanit, Valeria and Shaila, three ladies from very completely different components of the world who face the identical drawback: local weather change. They will lose the whole lot due to world warming results and they are going to be compelled to to migrate to outlive.

Miyazaki: Spirit of Nature (dir. Léo Favier)
A documentary exploring the life and influential works of Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, identified for movies like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, specializing in his ardour for animation and advocacy for the pure world.

Only on Earth (dir. Robin Petré)
Spain’s Southern Galicia is likely one of the most wildfire-prone zones in Europe. Wild horses have roamed these mountains for hundreds of years and play a vital function in fireplace prevention by holding flammable undergrowth low. But their numbers are dwindling. Petré’s movie takes the viewers on an immersive and visually hanging journey into the most popular summer season on document whereas inextinguishable forest fires rage for days. Only on Earth is in regards to the fragile steadiness of our pure world and the connection between people and animals.

Lowland Kids (dir. Sandra Winther)
The movie follows the story of the final two youngsters and their uncle—on Louisiana’s as soon as thriving Isle de Jean Charles: their strikingly lovely ancestral dwelling that’s now being swallowed by the ocean. Part of the neighborhood deemed America’s First Climate Refugees, they face an unsure future because the U.S. authorities makes an unprecedented effort to resettle their complete neighborhood earlier than the island succumbs to the ocean. The movie is directed by Danish filmmaker Sandra Winther and government produced by Darren Aronofsky.