Short films from Spain, Iran, Germany and France are the top winners of the 56th edition of the Golden Knight Malta International Film Festival.

A total of 310 films took part in this year’s festival, out of which five shorts won the Golden Knight Award, while another four from the UK, Germany, Brazil and Canada were awarded a ‘highly commended certificate’.

“All the participating films were viewed by a team of pre-selection assessors. A short list of 18 productions were in turn submitted to the final jury who decided on the awards,” said Vincent Lungaro-Mifsud, chairman of the event’s organiser, The Malta Cine Circle.

The jury was made up of Edgar Cianco (panel chairman), producer and director Joe Debono, producer and director Abigail Mallia, film-maker John Coleiro and film school lecturer Paul Camilleri.

The main criteria for voting were originality, story development, audience impact and technical points

Mr Lungaro-Mifsud explained that the main criteria for voting were originality, story development, audience impact and technical points such as cinematography, editing, direction, acting credibility and lighting.

The awardees will be presented with the Golden Knight trophy during a ceremony being held tomorrow at the Valletta University Campus.

Those present will also see the winning films, including Ainhoa by Spanish director Ivan Sainz-Pardo, which follows a nine-year-old girl as she struggles to deal with her family’s extreme financial distress; French production Funeral Games by Marie Sonne Jensen, about two undertakers who get a corpse stolen by two crooks who lose a precious bag; and Iranian short Zona by Toofan Nahan Ghotrati, whose protagonist accidentally discovers that the real father of his son is his brother.

Ainhoa (Spain)Ainhoa (Spain)

Two German shorts complete the top list: The Mandarin Tree by Philipp Lutz, which follows a little girl who visits her father in a Turkish prison, and Him & Her by Nathalie Lamb, which revolves around a long-distance relationship.

The festival originated in the late 1950s when The Malta Cine Circle, founded in 1952, organised ‘film holidays’ for amateur cine enthusiasts from the UK.

“At the end of the holiday, the visitors competed among each other for the best holiday film on Malta. The success of this venture encouraged the committee to take the bold decision to launch an international festival,” said Mr Lungaro-Mifsud, whose late father, Victor, was one of the founders of the Circle.

The first Golden Knight Festival was held in 1962 with a handful of participants, mainly from the UK, but nowadays it attracts hundreds of participants from as far away as South America and Israel.

The  awards ceremony will be held tomorrow at 7.30pm at the University Campus, St Paul’s Street, Valletta. Entrance is free. For reservations, call 9946 0866.

The Mandarin Tree (Germany)The Mandarin Tree (Germany)

Funeral Games (France)Funeral Games (France)

Him & Her (Germany)Him & Her (Germany)

L’Homme et le Poisson (Canada) is among four shorts which won a ‘highly commended certificate’.L’Homme et le Poisson (Canada) is among four shorts which won a ‘highly commended certificate’.

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