The film industry in Malta generated €98 million between March 2020 and December 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Malta Film Commission said on Tuesday.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 31 productions were filmed in Malta.
Film commissioner Johann Grech, speaking at the Malta Film Studios in Kalkara, said recent productions in Malta included feature films, television series, documentaries and reality shows.
Last year, a total of 22 productions took place on the island and generated €68 million for the economy.
He said that a cash rebate scheme managed by the commission had enabled foreign productions to benefit from a rebate of up to 40% of expenditure.
Read the full article here: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/98-million-generated-by-the-local-film-industry-despite-the-pandemic.927106
Joaquin Phoenix To Return To Malta For Ridley Scott’s ‘Kitbag’
Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix is set for a return to Malta next year to film ‘Kitbag’, the latest film by Ridley Scott about Napoleon and his rise from humble beginnings to emperor.
Phoenix had previously teamed up with Scott for 2000’s ‘Gladiator’, large parts of which were filmed in Malta.
Scott is the filmmaker behind Alien, Hannibal and Blade Runner while Phoenix has starred in Joker, Gladiator, and Hotel Rwanda among others.
The film’s title is derived from the saying “there is a general’s staff hidden in every soldier’s kitbag”.
While some industry sources have said that the film being shot in Malta isn’t a done deal, Scott himself has revealed that at least some parts of the film will be shot on the island.
Plans for this latest war epic have been underway for some time, with cinematographer Dariusz Adam Wolski having visited Malta in May to scout locations for the film. Wolski is known for his work on the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ film series.
Kitbag was acquired by Apple Studios early this year with filming set to begin in early 2022.
The film’s screenplay was written by David Scarpa, who also wrote ‘All the Money’ – another film directed by Scott.
“Napoleon is a man I’ve always been fascinated by,” Scott had told the publication Deadline earlier this year. “He came out of nowhere to rule everything — but all the while he was waging a romantic war with his adulterous wife Josephine. He conquered the world to try to win her love, and when he couldn’t, he conquered it to destroy her, and destroyed himself in the process.”
Read the full article here: https://lovinmalta.com/lifestyle/film/gladiator-and-joker-star-joaquin-phoenix-to-return-to-malta-for-ridley-scotts-napoleon-epic-kitbag
Popular productions shot in MaltaDid you know that Malta has been used as a filming location since 1925 and that more than 100 productions have been partially or fully shot here?
Popular productions filmed in Malta include:
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Midnight Express (1978)
Popeye (1980)
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Gladiator (2000)
The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
Troy (2004), Munich (2005)
Game of Thrones (season 1: 2011 – 2019)
Kon-Tiki (2012)
Captain Philips (2013)
World War Z (2013)
By the Sea (2015)
Assassin’s Creed (2016)
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)
Queen of the South (2016–)
Hallmark rom-com filmed in Malta to premiere this month
In the Hallmark movie Mix Up in the Mediterranean, which was shot in its entirety in Malta, a small-town cook impersonates his big city chef twin to compete in a culinary contest and falls for the woman in charge of the event, who thinks he is the brother who is married.
The film is a Malta / Canada co-production between local producer Colin Azzopardi along with his Canadian colleague Leif Bristow. Colin organised and took care of all the Malta side of things whilst the post-production was done abroad. “We used various locations in Malta, but the main location was in and around the Phoenicia Hotel, who were extremely accommodating throughout the making of the film,” Colin says. Other locations included Merchant’s Street and Upper Barakka Gardens in Valletta, and Palazzo Parisio in Naxxar.
