Malta’s Beloved Short Film Festival Kinemastik Returns With A Packed Programme
The Kinemastik International Short Film Festival, one of the most beloved film events on the island, is returning for its long-awaited 17th edition.
The full details of the programme have been announced and here’s everything you need to know.
The event will be held over a week from the 14th till the 21st of November and tickets are now available online.
The festival will be taking up a new format compared to their usual model, where you’ll be seeing a mix of different venues hosting various types of screenings, to ensure the spirit of KISFF despite the ongoing restriction and concerns.
None of the screenings will be available online because the Kinemastik team wanted to make a strong emphasis on bringing together the community, for cinema is a social act.
The jury’s panel will be made up of the acclaimed director of the award-winning film Luzzu Alex Camilleri, actor Marama Corlett and urbanist/architect Željka Abramovic.
Together, they will be awarding the Kinemastik Golden Dot to the best film in the international section.
Audiences will also have the chance to vote for their favourite films in both the international and national sections. All films will include English subtitles.
Kinemastik is renowned for putting local filmmakers on the map, providing them with a stage where they can showcase their work through local screenings as well as through worldwide distribution of locally produced works.
The week-long programme will jumpstart with Neck of the Woods screenings, offering a programme continuing from last year’s screenings of the One Minute film series at the Pietà kiosk, sourced from Amsterdam-based The One Minute, a global network devoted to moving image.
This year, The One Minutes X Kinemastik commissioned a programme that will premiere at Café Riche in Birgu on Sunday, 14th November.
Entitled Forked Tongue, the one-minute films have been selected by Marseille-based artist Madison Bycroft from worldwide submissions, as well as a one-minute film programme entitled Akwatik, curated by Kinemastik.
The One Minute selections then go on tour, screening on Monday night at the Vilhena Band Club in Floriana, on Tuesday night at Balzunetta Gastro Pub in Floriana, and Thursday and Friday night at The Royal British Legion in Valletta where an extended programme selected from The One Minute Series will loop throughout the evening.
Films selected for the Main Screen International Competition will be screened between 18-22 November, showing in Valletta at Spazju Kreattiv, St James Cavalier and in Rabat, Gozo at the Citadel Cinema, whilst a programme made up exclusively of Maltese films, entitled It-Talkies, will be screened at The Royal British Legion in Valletta on Wednesday 17 November.
The Main Screen section consists of four programmes — Rupture, Possibly Repair and We Are All Political (Animals), Ways of Seeing and (Don’t) Look Away.
The films have been selected from Sheffield Docs, Berlinale, FIDMarseille, Cannes (Semaine de la Critique), Locarno, Animateka, Venice, IDFA, Guanajuato, Toronto (TIFF) and Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, and consist of a variety of genres including animation, experimental, documentary and fiction, all under 30 minutes in length.
In a post-pandemic world, introspection, and the need to escape back into reality have become common themes discussed across social media and global media.
Playing on themes within psychoanalysis, sociology and art criticism, we have selected films that both concede with and challenge the preconceived notions of social behaviour, as well as seeking ways to bring a diverse set of observations from within current cinema into the discourse.
The selection of Maltese submissions is a mixed bag (that’s quite heavy on the horror) – traditionally referred to as It-Talkies, this year sees a selection of 11 films from a dynamic group of directors, including renowned artist Roxman Gatt and award-winning animator Fabrizio Ellul.
Kinemastik is supported by Arts Council Malta through the ICO Fund, the German Embassy in Malta, Spazju Kreattiv Cinema, Citadel Cinema, Marks and Spencer, and ALDO.
Although many of the events are free, there are still some aspects of the festival that require a ticket:
Spazju Kreattiv Cinema Ticket price – €7. Block ticket €24.
Double Bill Screenings at Citadel Cinema, Gozo – €14.
For the full programme, including showing times and ticket links please click here.
What film are you most excited to see?