A short Maltese language film called Sħab (To My Little Turtle), by award-winning production company Shadeena Films, is being shown at this year’s Cannes Short Film Corner (CSFC).
The production, which is 15 minutes long, is the second project funded by the Malta Film Fund to make it into this highly-competitive market, and the only Maltese entry to make it into this year’s CSFC.
“This project has been in the pipeline since 2011 and we’re very excited to finally be in a position to promote it,” says Martin Bonnici, the film’s producer and director.
Sħab is a Maltese/Swiss co-produced story about what happens to those who have been left behind after a death. The film introduces us to an old farmer, Joe, (played by Joe Cortis) who is mourning his wife (Ċettina Scicluna). On their anniversary, he deals with his own struggles and thoughts of regret push him to take a leap of faith. Local actors Peter Galea and Jules Darville complete the film’s small cast.
We will strive to establish stronger relationships that will bring our next projects to life and enable more Maltese-language features to be screened around the world
This project was developed by Bonnici and Chris Galea at the 2011 edition of the European Short Pitch, a short-film development and co-production workshop run by Nisi-Masa – a non-profit organisation promoting young professionals in the European film-making industry.
“Once that happened, the project continued to snowball,” says Bonnici. “We engaged the services of Cassi Camilleri, a local writer and graduate of Edinburgh Napier University, who took on the scriptwriting duties, and sourced other professionals to join the team.”
In 2013, Shadeena Films received a grant from the Malta Film Fund which provided the company with 35 per cent of the required financing. The rest of the budget came through an investment from the Swiss co-producers and Panalight Nexos Mediterranean, who, together, provided around 15 per cent of the budget.
The remaining 50 per cent of the funding was provided by the film company. A crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo raised a small sum to cover some of the marketing costs of the project.
The short film was entirely shot in Gozo, while the post-production was completed in Malta and handled mostly by Shadeena. The colour-grading took place at Turbulence Films in Los Angeles.
“Unfortunately, Maltese films rarely make it into larger markets and festivals, but we think of it as an important step in promoting our young industry,” says Bonnici.
“The Malta Film Fund has given Maltese film-makers new opportunities to reach an international level of production, but it is then up to the film-makers to push themselves and their products abroad.
“At the Cannes Short Film Corner and Film Market, we will strive to establish stronger relationships that will bring our next projects to life and enable more Maltese-language features to be screened around the world.”
For more information, visit www.shadeena.com.