WOW Film Festival: Luzzu (15)

WOW FILM FESTIVAL: Luzzu (15)

(Alex Camilleri, Malta 2021, 94mins, subtitles)

With its non-professional actors, keen eye for local customs, and its neorealist approach this is a Loach-like take on life for Jesmark, a real-life Maltese fisherman. Short of money and reluctantly dependent on his wife’s family, Jesmark is determined to hold on to his boat (a Luzzu) and his traditional way of life. As the pressure mounts he takes up with some dodgy traders operating in the dark underbelly of the fishing industry. Authentic, intimate and poignant, this is a crushing lament for the loss of community and cultural traditions.

“An honest, affecting slab of working-class portraiture, altogether bracing with its thorny labor politics and salty sea air.” Variety

“a story told with skill, beauty, and resonance far beyond the shores of Malta.” TAKE ONE magazine

Winner Best Actor World Cinema section Sundance Film Festival 2021