THE COMMISSION

First Film Shot in Malta

In March, Malta hosted the first silent feature film, titled “Sons of the Sea”. 3 more productions found its roots on the Maltese islands between 1927 and 1931.

Film Companies returned to Malta

The main reason for this was because of the support given by the British Forces. Throughout a period of 5 years, 6 productions chose Malta, one of which was titled “Malta Story”, resulting in the script having Malta as Malta.

First Screen Tourism Initiative in Malta

Malta’s Tourist Board financed the filming of a children’s movie, titled “Treasures in Malta”. This had an all‐Maltese cast and used the narrative of the film as an excuse to show‐off many beautiful Maltese locations.

Building of the Shallow Tank

After losing a marine set to a storm, British special‐effects expert, Benjamin ‘Jim’ Hole, decided that he needed a solution to film on water in a safer and more controlled environment. At Rinella, Hole founded the Malta Film Facilities, and together with a young Maltese construction manager; Paul Avellino, he built a 300‐foot wide shallow water tank, which would allow filming of water scenes in a controlled environment and safe from erratic climatic conditions.

The Bedford Incident was the first production filming in the water-tanks

The scene filmed inside the tanks incorporated an American destroyer and a Soviet submarine

36 productions filmed in Malta over a period of 12 years

Orca and The Midnight Express were amongst that collection of films filming in various locations and in the water tanks in Malta between 1966 and 1978.

The Deep Tank was built

Funded and built by Lord Lew Grade, Raise the Titanic inaugurated the deep underwater filming facility. Further investment was done within the SFX facilities, resulting in several major productions choosing Malta for their project.

Launch of the Malta Film Commission

Following the simultaneous production of Gladiator (2000) and U‐571 (2000), with the former said to have pumped over $28 million into the local economy, the Maltese Government set up the Malta Film Commission in January 2000 aimed at further promoting Malta as a film‐making destination. Over the years, the Malta Film Commission has managed to attract and facilitate many international audio‐visual productions as well as implement extensive developments in the local film‐servicing sector.