WATCH: A Burning Priest, Horrific Hallucinations And A Troubled Deaf Farmer – This Short Maltese Film Is Intense AF
It might just be 15 minutes long, but the latest Maltese short film to see the light of day packs quite the punch when it comes to its imagery. In fact, a priest being burnt alive makes up just about 10 seconds of the whole thing. Talk about intense.
Ambivalent tells the dark story of a middle-aged deaf farmer who suffers from a dependant personality disorder, relying on other people to make his daily decisions. A turn of events – along with multiple horrific hallucinations – results in him being forced to make a decision on his own, with devastating effects for himself and those around him.
To make the whole thing all that more nerve-racking, the short film also uses a legendary favourite – L-A??ar Bidwi f’Wied il-G?asel – as the sonic backdrop to its climax. Of course, though, the song takes an entirely different vibe when paired with the imagery on offer.
Ambivalent was produced by Maka Visuals (with the support of the 2014 Malta Film Fund) who teamed up with Mark Doneo (who wrote the script) to develop the storyline to what it is today.
“On this day, three years ago, we screened our first short film to the cast, crew, friends and family,” Maka Visuals took to Facebook to explain last week. “Today, our first passion project is ready for its online release.”
The talented team worked round the clock, dedicating their time to find the perfect cast, recruit the crew, location sourcing and rehearsals.
Beyond the priest scene, however, Ambivalent has some other jaw-dropping moments, visual effects and cinematography. In fact, it’s hard to believe that it was filmed over two weekends and runs at just around a quarter of an hour.