The Mediterrane Film Festival announced its complete program ahead of its second edition, taking place in Malta’s capital of Valetta from June 22-30. New titles selected include recent Cannes highlights in Coralie Fargeat’s Demi Moore-led body horror “The Substance” and Roberto Minvervini’s “The Damned,” which join previously announced films like Yorgos Lanthimos’s “Kinds of Kindness” and Jane Schoenbrun’s “I Saw The TV Glow.”
Further program additions include Mahdi Fleifel’s Directors’ Fortnight standout “To a Land Unknown,” which Variety labeled “a confident, angry, fully-realized drama,” and Truong Minh Quy’s Un Certain Regard breakout “Viet and Nam.” An extended version of the Malta-shot “Jurassic World: Dominion” will play as part of the Malta Expanded strand, while on the retrospective end of the program, the festival will honor David Bowie with screenings of Nicolas Roeg’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth” and Lisa Azuelos’s “My Way,” plus a masterclass on the musician’s enduring legacy helmed by British Film Commissioner Adrian Wootton titled “David Bowie: Celebrating 60 Years of Genius.”
Artistic Director Teresa Cavina said she is “very happy” with the selection, calling it “a chorus of strong and harmonious voices that, through extraordinary films, gives shape to a complex and varied universe, a mirror of the reality that surrounds us, often difficult to decipher, sometimes painful, but also full of hope and capacity for renewal.”
Cavina also emphasised the strong female presence at this year’s festival, with 16 films — almost half of the festival’s official selection — comprised of works directed by women.
On the industry side, the festival will hold a selection of masterclasses with industry-leading figures. BAFTA-winning director Mike Leigh, the recipient of this year’s Career Achievement Golden Bee Award, will sit for an In-Conversation event with Adrian Wootton, and other masterclasses include editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis (“Kinds of Kindness,” “Poor Things”), production designer Nathan Crowley (“Wonka,” “Dunkirk”), casting director Margery Simkin (“Top Gun,” “Mamma Mia”) and composer Simon Franglen (“Avatar: The Way of the Water,” “Ocean’s Eight”).
The industry panels will follow this year’s festival theme of “Unity Through Film” and discuss issues such as globalization in the entertainment industry, film circulation and co-production among Mediterranean countries and beyond, emerging storytelling trends, immersive technologies, and the animation landscape and career-specific discussions hosted by acclaimed experts in their respective fields and crafts.
Mediterrane also filled out its jury, with “Deadpool” and “Terminator: Dark Fate” director Tim Miller joining director Jon S. Baird, casting director Margery Simkin, director Mario Philip Azzopardi, production designer Nathan Crowley, cinematographer Pedro Luque, and director and writer Richie Mehta.
The jury of the festival’s inaugural Mare Nostrum strand will consist of Cinemed Montpeiller Director and Directors’ Fortnight Managing Director Christophe LeParc; Eduardo Guillot, the Artistic Director of Mostra de Valencia; former Jerusalem Film Festival Artistic Director Elad Samorzik; Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer; and Istanbul International Film Festival Director Kerem Ayan.
Johann Grech, Malta Film Commissioner, said of the festival’s program: “The Mediterrane Film Festival is a celebration of our cultural heritage and an opportunity for Malta to showcase its potential. We are thrilled to host such a diverse group of filmmakers and industry experts, and we believe this festival will further solidify Malta’s position as a hub for filmmakers.”
Full list of selected titles below:
COMPETITION
“Backstage,” Afef Ben Mahmoud, Khalil Benkirane
“Kinds of Kindness,” Yorgos Lanthimos
“Life,” Zeki Demirkubuz
“Meeting with Pol Pot,” Rithy Panh
“Negu Hurbilak,” Negu Collective
“Out of Season,” Stéphane Brizé
“Palazzina Laf,” Michele Riondino
“Sweet Dreams,” Ena Sendijarević
“The Damned,” Roberto Minvervini
“The Rye Horn,” Jaione Camborda
“The Strangers’ Case,” Brandt Andersen
“The Substance,” Coralie Fargeat
“To a Land Unknown,” Mahdi Fleifel
“Tuesday,” Daina Oniunas-Pusic
“Who Do I Belong To,” Meryam Joobeur
OUT OF COMPETITION
“Dear Jassi,” Tarsem Singh
“Hunters on a White Field,” Sarah Gyllenstierna
“I Saw The TV Glow,” Jane Schoenbrun
“The Belle from Gaza,” Yolande Zauberman
“The Count of Monte Cristo,” Alexandre de La Patellière, Matthieu Delaporte
“The Devil’s Bath,” Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz
“Viet and Nam,” Truong Minh Quy
OUT OF COMPETITION: MALTA EXPANDED
Feature Films:
“Hounds of War,” Isaac Florentine
“Jurassic World: Dominion, extended version,” Colin Trevorrow
“Minore,” Konstantinos Koutsoliotas
Short Films:
“The Ambush,” Fabrizio Fenech
“Beautiful Lie,” Hristijan Kostovski
“Cookie Box,” Adam Żurawiecki
“I Wish I Never Existed,” Maria Grech, Dylan Odom
“Morning Star,” Zora Balfour
“Pirates and Slaves,” Danielle Proskar
“The Well,” Alan Cassar
MARE NOSTRUM
“A New Kind of Wilderness,” Silje Evensmo Jacobsen
“Life and Other Problems,” Max Kestner
“Nocturnes,” Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan
“One Needs a Town,” Francesco Conversano, Nene Grignaffini
“Shambhala,” Min Bahadur Bham
“The Human Hibernation,” Anna Cordunella Castro
“The Last,” Sebastian Pena Escobar
FUTURE VISIONS
“Alex Honnold: The Soloist,” Jonathan Griffith
“All that Remains,” Craig Quintero
“Daughters of Chibok,” Joel Benson
“Eggscape,” German Heller
“Elele,” Sjoerd van Acker
“Empereur,” Marion Burger, Ilan Cohen
“Over the Rainbow,” Craig Quintero
“Sen,” Keisuke Itoh
“Space Explorers,” Felix Lajeunesse
“Tales from Soda Island,” Simone Fougnier
“The Blu,” Jake Rowell
“The Imaginary Friend,” Steye Hallema
“Tu Vivras Mon Fils,” Victoria Bousis
“Wallace and Gromit,” Finbar Hawkins, Bram Ttwheam, Lawrence Bennett
HOMAGE TO DAVID BOWIE
“The Man Who Fell to Earth,” Nicolas Roeg
“My Way,” Lisa Azuelos, Thierry Teston
Source Agencies
