The third edition of the Valletta Film Festival continues with a variety of screenings, including the documentary-film Burning Bikinis showing today at St George’s Square at 10pm.

The film takes inspiration from a Maltese urban legend in which bikinis were bought in bulk and burnt in a public square in Malta in the 1960s. In the same period, several women were arrested and taken to court for wearing bikinis.

Concurrently, Archbishop Mikiel Gonzi requested the then Prime Minister George Borg Olivier to establish a special branch of the police force with the “exclusive function to safeguard public morality”.

The film centres around the collective memories of women’s movements in Malta from the 1960s up until present day. An almost total absence of public, academic and journalistic records attesting to Maltese female lobbies or organisations led to the researchers interviewing women active in those days and tracing those incidents, events and places that were important to their struggles.

This documentary-film is funded by the Arts Council Malta, Creative Communities, together with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and the US Embassy.

Other Valletta Film Festival screenings taking place today

▪ 1:54 at Embassy Cinemas at 2pm
▪ Fonko at St James Cavalier at 2.30pm
▪ Home at Embassy Cinemas at 4pm
▪ Goodbye Berlin at Embassy Cinemas at 6pm
▪ Brexitannia at St James Cavalier at 7pm
▪ Fortunata at Embassy Cinemas at 8.30pm
▪ Rumble – The Indians who Rocked the World at St James Cavalier at 9pm
▪ Woodpeckers at Herbert Ganado Gardens at 9pm
▪ Insyriated at Pjazza Teatru Rjal at 9pm
▪ Ewropej at 9pm at St George’s Square

The festival runs until June 25. For more information and to book tickets, visit www.vallettafilmfestival.com. Festival passes, allowing access to all the screenings, master classes and events, are also on sale.

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