Building a strong film industry
To build a genuine national film industry Malta requires realistic financing mechanisms and the nurturing of creative leadership in writing, directing and producing, says Malcolm Scerri Ferrante
It was refreshing to read Culture Minister’s Owen Bonnici’s opinion piece of February 21, ‘Strengthening Maltese cinema’, about Malta joining Euroimages, which he rightly described as a strong European framework for film.
For Malta’s fledgling film-making sector to develop properly, Maltese producers need to partner with foreign film-makers. Such partnerships allow them to complement one another’s experience and also share risk. These arrangements are known as international co-productions, where a film shares its identity with one or more other countries. Euroimages exists precisely to encourage such collaborations, providing financing to productions involving member states.
In truth, Malta should have joined Euroimages long ago. For decades, indigenous film-making was neither fully understood nor sufficiently appreciated by successive governments. Growth instead came organically, driven by local talent, easier global access to media platforms and a thriving film servicing industry on the island.
It was the persistence of local film-makers advocating for the sector that eventually prompted government action. Thankfully, the current administration wisely transferred management of the national film fund from the Malta Film Commission to the Arts Council, where it should have been placed when first conceived a decade ago. Local creative filmmakers finally received the attention they deserved and the Arts Council then took concrete steps toward joining Euroimages.
To understand Malta’s film landscape, one must distinguish between two connected but distinct sectors: the film servicing industry and the indigenous one.
The servicing industry consists of foreign productions that shoot in Malta and employ local crews for support. Film commissions are tasked with promoting their country for this purpose and facilitating administrative processes so producers have a smooth experience. Through servicing, the tourism industry might benefit when Malta is portrayed as itself in widely viewed films. These productions have also strengthened the local crew base.
As an example, three decades ago, Malta had only one experienced location manager and one production manager. Today there are several qualified professionals in these roles. However, while this sector can build crew capacity, most foreign films do not carry a Maltese cultural identity. Even when structured as ‘co-productions’ for financing purposes, they rarely reflect the true spirit of creative collaboration, offering limited opportunities for Maltese creatives to shape storytelling.
The indigenous industry, by contrast, focuses on Maltese-led films, whether produced alone or with foreign partners. In genuine international co-productions, creative and financial responsibilities are shared. Each partner typically contributes financing, production expertise, local resources and access to funding or distribution – and sometimes underlying rights.
Within such structures, Euroimages can provide substantial support. However, its contribution represents only a small portion of a film’s overall budget – typically not more than 17 per cent for a feature film. It would therefore be naïve for us to assume Euroimages alone will build Malta’s indigenous industry. Membership is a major step forward but not the final achievement.
In 2000, I wrote an article titled ‘Missing the Boat’ highlighting the opportunity Euroimages presented and arguing that Malta should introduce financial incentives. My position today remains unchanged: Maltese producers must bring meaningful financing to co-production partnerships if their projects are to reach the screen.
Given Malta’s small market, local television and cinemas cannot generate significant financing. This places greater responsibility on government, compared to larger countries, to support producers with mechanisms that make them credible and attractive co-production partners.
Malta currently offers a cash rebate of up to 40 per cent, and in exceptional cases 50 per cent, to producers who film on the island. However, if a Maltese co-production does not shoot substantially in Malta – which can be the case in international co-productions – its benefit from the rebate will be limited, as the scheme is tied to expenditure when filming physically on the island.
Local producers should make full use of the Malta Film Commission’s rebate scheme while it is still alive and when their projects can be filmed in Malta. The rebate is very important and government must ensure that any reforms improve sustainability without undermining the framework.
Meanwhile, the Arts Council’s film fund remains vital for indigenous production. Yet its latest allocation – €2.8 million annually across all projects – restricts growth. Doubling this figure would significantly strengthen local film-making.
If additional public funds are not available, government should consider tax incentives for local investors. In the same article of 26 years ago when I had explained Euroimages, I had also suggested generous tax write-offs to attract private funding. For example, when Australia sought to build its film industry decades ago, it allowed investors to write off 150 per cent of their investment and offered substantial tax exemptions on profits.
While this attracted investors motivated only by tax advantages, it successfully established a healthy indigenous industry. Once stability was achieved, the system was tightened.
Malta currently pays tens of millions annually on rebates for foreign productions, including rebates on expenditure that does not even get spent in the local economy. It should therefore be able to afford meaningful tax incentives for local investors, particularly if the Arts Council’s budget cannot be increased to at least €4 million. Funds need not be fully disbursed each year; only the strongest qualifying projects would receive support.
It is tempting to sit back and believe the local film industry to be ‘strong’ simply because many foreign productions shoot in Malta. But volume alone attracted largely by generous cash handouts does not constitute a robust film industry, and certainly not an indigenous one.
To build a genuine national film industry – producing Maltese-led films of cultural and commercial value – Malta requires realistic financing mechanisms and the nurturing of creative leadership in writing, directing and producing. Now that Euroimages offers Malta the same opportunities as other member states, the island must develop and implement a comprehensive and intelligently designed film policy. The energetic team at Arts Council Malta is well-positioned to drive this forward.
The next step for the culture ministry, which oversees both the Film Commission and the Arts Council, should be to implement a holistic strategy that balances servicing success with indigenous sustainability and growth. Only then can Malta claim to have built a film industry that is not merely busy with foreign shoots, but truly strong and local.
22 March 2026 - The Times of Malta
By Malcolm Scerri Ferrante