CINEMAS & THE FILM INDUSTRY IN MALTA

Malta has a thriving film scene. With 4 multiplex cinemas spread around the islands, all sporting the latest Dolby Digital technology, as well as IMAX screens, Malta competes with the best of Europe and the rest of the world. In fact, Malta boasts the largest screen in Europe, which make for some spectacular viewing.

Malta compares with the rest of Europe for dates of first screening of movies. Ticket Prices are comparable to the rest of Europe and the United States.

The scene used as the "Slave quarters" in the movie Gladiator.

Malta has served as location for a number of international films, starting with Treasure in Malta in the 1960s, followed by Popeye (1983), Midnight Express, Jaws, Christopher Columbus, Cutthroat island, and more recently Gladiator and U-571. Perhaps ironically Malta is best known to the world through the film adaptation of book that isn't about Malta - Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, the title of which refers to a statuette of mysterious origin.

Having such rich medieval architecture, Malta is ideal for serving as a location for films, doing away with costly construction of models. Indeed, while touring the Maltese islands, one can recall famous scenes from movies that made the screen. Another feature that makes Malta desirable for shooting movies is the rich blue of the Mediterranean sea surrounding the island. Rinella, at the south side of the island, hosts the largest outside water tank in the world, where ocean-based parts of movies are shot in miniature, against the real Mediterranean backdrop.

Moreover, Popeye village, the set of Robin Williams's movie about the sailor Popeye and his friends, has been made into a major tourist attraction in the North of the island.

You’ll find another cinema at the Centre for Creativity, St James’ Cavalier, Valletta. Here, the programme is geared more towards art house movies, re-releases and non-English language films. There is also a winter season of art house movies organised by the University of Malta film club. Various foreign organisations, such as the Italian and French Cultural Institutes and the German-Maltese Circle, also have regular film seasons. Check What’s On for their programmes.