Festivals - Sundance Film Festival 2021 : Luzzu directed by Alex Camilleri will have its world premiere

By Mulder, 30 december 2020

Jesmark, a Maltese fisherman, contends with a newfound leak in his wooden luzzu boat. Barely getting by, he sees his livelihood—and a family tradition from generations before him—imperiled by diminishing harvests, a ruthless fishing industry, and a stagnating ecosystem. Desperate to provide for his wife and their newborn son, whose growth impediment requires treatment, Jesmark gradually slips into an illicit black-market fishing operation.

Although Malta makes the occasional movie appearance, Luzzu is one of its first truly local films. This is a poignant, humanistic portrait of an eclipsing way of life, its authenticity stemming from the years filmmaker Alex Camilleri spent befriending Maltese fishermen, who then became his cast. Camilleri’s neorealist approach finds the quiet power of small moments and the underlying intensity of ordinary people pushed into untenable positions. Yet it still belongs firmly to today—a reflection on sustainable ecosystems and the consequences of climate change for these fishermen. You feel their struggle, the loss of an identity tied to tradition, and a love for the sea and these colorful boats with their wood-carved faces.

Synopsis :
A man risks everything to provide for his girlfriend by entering Malta's black-market fishing industry.

Luzzu (Malta)
Written and directed by Alex Camilleri
Produced by Rebecca Anastasi, Ramin Bahrani, Oliver Mallia, Alex Camilleri
First Assistant Director : Beppe Abela
Production Designer : Jon Banthorpe
Casting Director : Edward Said
Costume Designer : Martina Zammit Maempel
Starring Jesmark Scicluna, Michela Farrugia, David Scicluna
Music by Jon Natchez
Sound Mixer : Robert Bonello
Cinematography : Léo Lefèvre
Distributed by Memento Films International
Release date : January 29, 2021 (Sundance)
Running time : 94 minutes

Premiere : jan. 29 - 9:00pm // Second screening : jan. 31 - 4:00pm (local time)

(Source : press release)