17/11/2006

Malta will soon have its first film festival. From September 15-23, 2007, La Valletta will host the first edition of the Malta International Film Festival, along with guests from throughout the world.

The festival, which in three weeks has already received 50 films and application forms, is being organised by the Paris-based AECEO - Association pour l'échange culturel entre l'Europe et l'Orient, with participation from private Maltese companies, the cooperation of Egyptian production company AraMage Artistic Production and support from Malta’s Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

For festival founder and director Hisham Abdel Khalek, this event "aims to put the spotlight on Malta as a very desirable shooting location as well as open a dialogue between all the cinema professionals around the world". The festival will also offer an international market for producers, distributors and film commissions. The programme, which will be announced September 1 of next year, will feature an official competition presided over by an international jury, the first three members of which have already been announced: Iranian director Tahmineh Milani, Syrian actress and UN Ambassador Mouna Wasef and Baba Hama, director of the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou.

Other sections include EU Dialogue, with a contribution towards French cinema (in collaboration wit the CNC); World Panorama, celebrating Iranian cinema with a selection of 10 films (in collaboration with the Farabi Cinema Foundation); International Panorama, with 20 titles from various countries, including Russia, Belgium, Guatemala, China, Switzerland, Germany, Italia, South Korea, Serbia & Montenegro, the UK, Poland and Portugal; and, lastly, Arabisk, which will screen 10 films from Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Syria and Morocco.

To download a registration form, submit a film or for further information, please visit: www.maltafilmfestival.com

(Translated from Italian)