Film buffs are in for a treat at the beginning of next month when Malta's second ever International Film Festival is being held, offering the opportunity to watch movies that just about make it to Malta.
The festival is being organised by KRS Film Distributors Ltd, in collaboration with Eden Century Cinemas. It is scheduled to be spread over two weeks between November 2 and 15, during which 14 movies from as many different countries are being exhibited at the Eden Century Cinemas in St Julian's.
The 2005 festival promises to be even better than last year's, said KRS general manager Charles Pace. And the trailers alone seem to vouch for that!
KRS has taken its time to select the 14 movies and said the task was no mean feat. But the end result is a choice of films that is "much more varied and interesting than that of 2004, and we are hoping to attract a higher attendance than last year," Mr Pace augured.
Despite the fact that the festival's first edition could not be described as successful, it was considered to be "encouraging", and KRS has not given up trying to increase the audience for these movies.
The problem of selling European and other foreign-language films was not only confined to Malta but was a worldwide phenomenon, Mr Pace said. This was despite the efforts of KRS, which, nevertheless, had faith in the improvement of the market.
Despite the odds, around three foreign-language films are released in Maltese cinemas every month.
"The idea is to try to accommodate the small audience that exists in the hope that it would grow," Mr Pace said, adding that more awareness was definitely being raised.
The films being exhibited during the festival have been produced in France, Spain, Russia, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, China, the UK, South Africa and the US, as well as in Colombia and Greece for the first time.
The festival opens on November 2 with director of The Others Alejandro Amenábar's Spanish production The Sea Inside - which won Best Foreign Film at this year's Oscars.
Based on the profoundly moving true story that captured the world's attention, The Sea Inside is about Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, played by Oscar nominee Javier Bardem, who fought a 30-year campaign to win the right to end his life with dignity.
The second film to be screened on November 3 is Germany's Downfall in which Traudl Junge, a candidate in the post of personal secretary to the Fuehrer, tells of Adolf Hitler's final days in his Berlin bunker, while the box-office hit and highly acclaimed French production The Chorus is scheduled for November 4.
Set in 1949, The Chorus tells the story of Clément Mathieu, an unemployed music teacher, who is hired as supervisor in a boarding school for troubled children. The particularly repressive school director has trouble keeping them in line. But, introducing them to the magic of singing, Mathieu changes their lives forever...The Chorus is being followed the next day by the Brazilian film Bus 174 from director Jose Padilha, which is the careful investigation of the hijack of a bus in Rio on June 12, 2000, based on extensive research of stock footage, interviews and official documents.
Scheduled for exhibition on November 6 is Dan Harris's American drama Imaginary Heroes, while November 7 will see the Colombian movie Maria Full of Grace from director Joshua Marston.
The Russian fantasy thriller Night Watch is being shown on November 8. When released in Russia in 2004, Night Watch became the highest grossing film in the nation's history.
The second week of the festival kicks off on November 9 with Denmark's film, In your Hands, followed on November 10 by the winner of the Venice Film Festival Award, the controversial Vera Drake from director Mike Leigh.
It tells the story of selfless Vera, who lives with her husband and their grown-up children, and cleans houses. But she has a sideline, which she keeps a secret: without accepting payment, she helps young women to end unwanted pregnancies.
Italy's production, The Keys to the House, is being screened on November 11. In it, its director, Gianni Amelio, offers a personal cinematic treatise on mental illness, physical disability and child abandonment.
Palme d'Or Cannes 2004 nominee, the Chinese film 2046, follows on November 12, while the last three films of the festival are South Africa's Stander, Argentina's Bombon El Perro and Greece's Trilogy - The Weeping Meadow to be shown on November 13, 14 and 15 respectively.
Eden Leisure Group company secretary Simon De Cesare said the cinemas were pleased to be supporting the artistic, and not only the commercial side of movies.
The film festival will be held in Cinema 11 and every film will be screened for one day from the early afternoon until late at night, he said.
Tickets cost Lm2.50, with a reduced price of Lm10 for the purchase of block packets of five tickets, while special concessions for the elderly and the afternoon shows have been retained.
A brief synopsis, with details about every film being screened, is available on the Eden Century Cinemas website.