Maltese Film Director Up For Major Award Against Giants Like Idris Elba and Steve McQueen
Among the list of names to the Best Director nominations for the 2019 UK National Film Awards you’ll household names like Idris Elba, Alex Garland and Steve McQueen. But you’ll also find one Maltese name.
One of the island’s longest-serving producers, Winston Azzopardi, that is.
Winston Azzopardi and son Joe at the Rome International Film Festival
We’re talking about the Winston Azzopardi who filmed highly-acclaimed thriller The Boat in Malta, with his son Joe Azzopardi starring in the 100-minute feature film. The father-son dynamic-duo wrote the Maltese thriller that was shot in just 22 days and now, the film is up for a UK nomination at the prestigious awards show.
“I was obviously very happy,” Winston humbly told Lovin Malta of this latest great achievement. “The film hasn’t even come out in the UK yet!”
The Boat will finally be released worldwide – including in the UK – at the end of May. It will premiere at Eden Cinemas in Malta on 27th February 2019
Clips from the first trailer of ‘The Boat‘
Last Monday, the UK National Film Academy announced the official nominations for its 5th anniversary. 1.9 million fans cast their votes across 25 categories to decide the nominations and viewers can also now vote for the winners on the official Academy website. The awards show will take place on 27th of March 2019.
The Boat centres around a chilling tale of a fisherman who gets lost in deep mist and boards an abandoned sailboat. As he loses his own boat, the vessel he’s stuck on heads into unknown waters and he’s faced with one tough challenge after the other.
Winston and Joe Azzopardi celebrating Best Short Film for original film The Head at the Rome Film Festival back in 2016. Photo from Times of Malta
When the film was initially released, it made some pretty wicked appearances. It debuted at the prestigious Fantastic Fest in Texas when it premiered in September, impressing various film critics around the world.
Winston Azzopardi’s nomination for Best Director is up against Idris Elba (Yardie), Steve McQueen (Widows), Steven Nesbit (Gloves Off), Michael Pearce (The Beast), Daniel KoKotajlo (Apostasy), Alex Garland (Annihilation), Matt Palmer (Calibre) and Richard Billingham (Ray & Liz).