A film contest with a religious theme is being held for the first time in Malta.
Seven productions were submitted for the Maltese Catholic Film Contest, organised by the True Light Catholic Media Foundation, an audiovisual media apostolate aimed at sharing the Catholic faith in a way that is relevant to modern times.
Żiffa“This project was set up to encourage Maltese and Gozitan Catholic youths to get actively involved in creating media which allows them to share their Catholic faith with their peers and, at the same time, to learn more about the Catholic faith and how to communicate it,” said Kenneth Fenech, one of the brains behind the foundation.
“Our mission is to create eye-catching videos, graphics, prints and more, in order to educate, inform and spread the Gospel message and Catholic teaching far and wide,” co-founder Gavin Muscat said.
Film contestants could take part as individuals or production teams of up to seven persons and had to submit their entries by September 30.
Videos, submitted in English or Maltese, could not be longer than 10 minutes and had to meet five criteria: faithfulness (to the Catholic faith), impact (of the message), beauty (how well the film is made), creativity and viewers’ engagement.
The producers of the festival are happy with the response.
Azzjoni waħda“The submitted videos show a lot of potential both as regards storytelling and the level of production. Low-budget productions can at times surprise you with their quality,” said Mr Fenech.
“These films show courage and initiative on the part of all the participating teams and for that we are grateful.”
The topics covered by the entries include forgiveness, mercy, bullying, confession, redemption, hope, the meaning of suffering and the priestly vocation.
A team of three judges will vote for their preferred entry but the amount of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ each video receives online – via Facebook and YouTube − will affect the final vote.
The winners will be announced on November 19. The top team will receive a cash prize while the two runners-up will be awarded media equipment.
The videos can be viewed on the True Light Catholic Media Foundation website www.tlcm.mt/filmcontest2018, on the film contest’s Facebook Page or on the film contest’s YouTube Channel at https://goo.gl/xK21qz .
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