An award-winning short film set in Gozo is now free to watch on YouTube, one year after its official premiere. 

Based on a short story by Pierre Meilaq, Dar ir-Rummien [Pomegranate House] went into production after a script adaptation written by Federico Chini and Manuel Xuereb took first place in a short film contest organised by the National Book Council and PBS. The completed film won Best Production Design at the Malta Short Film Festival. 

"Organising a single screening of a short movie is not the easiest thing," Mr Chini, who also directed the film, told Times of Malta. "One year after its Gozitan premiere, it's time to for the movie to be free for everyone to watch and enjoy."

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Dar ir-Rummien tells the story of guesthouse owner Ġanni and his daughter Joy. Days after a new guest arrives, Joy tells her father that she has fallen in love with the new arrival.  Ġanni is taken by surprise, but then tells his daughter about the first time he fell in love, many years ago.

Starring Eugene Bajada and Amy Borg, Dar ir-Rummien aired twice on TVM last Christmas season and made it to a festival in Cyprus. But bringing it to wider audience was proving difficult, Mr Chini said. 

"Many, many months of work went into the film. And though the screenings were successful, the film was hardly receiving the attention or the audience it deserved," the Italian-Maltese filmmaker said. 

With the short film now on YouTube, Dar ir-Rummien now has a potential audience of billions. 

But rather than fixate on viewing numbers, Mr Chini is busy planning his next project: a full feature film. "The script is ready," he said, "the funding... not yet." 

He made his pitch to Times of Malta readers. "If anyone wants to fund a moderately inexpensive, beautiful Maltese/Gozitan feature movie, they can contact me. I like to dream big." 

Watch Dar ir-Rummien in the video at the top of this article, or visit Mr Chini's YouTube channel.