‘Tal-Qalba Argument Is Nothing But Sour Grapes,’ Maltese Director Says After MP’s Talent Drain Comment
A prominent Maltese film director has hit back after an MP said that talented people within the Maltese film industry are being forced to move overseas because they are constantly being sidelined at home in favour of people close to circles of power.
“Julie Zahra has absolutely no idea of how the industry works,” Mario Philip Azzopardi said in a strongly worded post.
“I have my own gripes with the Malta Film Commission but to condemn it on the basis of what Ms Zahra argued is immature and shows a total disregard for the realities of the industry, which, as a service industry, has done fantastically well in Malta over the last few years.”
Zahra had slammed decisions made within the Maltese film industry that she said had led to a lack of equal opportunities.
However, Azzopardi said the film industry was “a dog-eat-dog business where the competition is fierce and cruel”.
“Film making is not a democratic endeavour,” he said. “Talent, experience and technical know-how are the prime movers and without them one cannot hope to go beyond menial servicing. The idea that this industry is open for everyone is ludicrous.”
“This job demands know-how, and no company is interested in giving a ‘chance’ to a newbie if a professional is available, whether locally or imported,” he continued. “It is about time that we start talking seriously about the creation of our own industry rather than concentrating solely on foreign interventions.”
Azzopardi went one step further, saying that talent needed to leave the island if they wanted to compete at an international level.
“If people want to advance in the industry, beyond driving foreign crews from hotel to set and back, cooking their meals, building their sets and dressing up as extras, they HAVE to leave and try their luck abroad, where they can compete on an international level and hope to reach levels which are impossible to achieve in Malta,” he said.
“That’s the only way open for progress. The local industry (service industry) can only provide seasonal work and well-below-the-line positions.”
“This harping on about ‘tal-qalba’ is a tired, ineffectual, immature, biased and stupid argument and serves only to propagate a political agenda, devoid of real substance and fact, and has nothing to do with the day-to-day gruelling realities of filmmaking,” Azzopardi said, before ending with a question.
“How many days has Julie Zahra spent on a real set, in development sessions, in production meetings? How many executives in the industry has she consulted with? So please, go sit in your green chair Julie and leave the work in the hands of those who know how to make it happen.”
Do you have experience working in the local film industry that you’d like to share? Speak to Lovin Malta in confidence by emailing [email protected]
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