As part of our membership package CFS also offers members FREE online films in conjunction with YourScreen.
Luzzu is the first of six online Films of the Month via YourScreen that we are bringing you this season. You can watch it free here by using the code CFSLUZZU.
Please Note: To watch you will need to first set up an account and password with YourScreen, but you will not be required to add your bank details after adding CFSLUZZU as the Promo code. Please see your Film of the Month email for more detail on how to watch.
Luzzu 2021, cert 15, 94 min is a beautiful and thoughtful film set in Malta yet examining a universal issue. Taking inspiration from Italian neo-realism, the filmmakers capture a way of life that is vanishing before their eyes; traditional culture buckling under the weight of government regulation, environmental issues and the laws of the marketplace. Do you betray friends and cultural traditions to provide for your family? This is the dilemma that faces Maltese fisherman Jesmark played by real-life fisherman Jesmark Scicluna; his compelling performance garnering him an acting award at the Sundance Film Festival. The odds are stacked against him. Money is tight and his infant son requires medical treatment. What to do – one man’s attempt to adapt to a radically changing world and who are we to judge him?
“A ravishing portrait of tradition in transition, Luzzu brings Malta to the forefront.” Carlos Aguilar (rogerebert).
“The impressive feature debut from Maltese-American writer and director Alex Camilleri manages to be both self-contained, in its depiction of an embattled community, but also unexpectedly far-reaching in its themes.” Wendy Ide (Screen International).
“Awash in blues and yellows, the colours of the traditional Maltese fishing boat known as a luzzu, Alex Camilleri’s debut is nothing short of a future neo-realist classic.” Phoung Le (The Guardian)
CFS members have also been given a 30% discount by YourScreen to the rest of their current titles by using the code CFS30.
See FAQ for help and information on how to watch YourScreen films.
Sisters Apart (2020) is also still available and can be viewed using the code CFSSP100. This is a Greek/German co-production, written and directed by Daphne Charizani whose most recent work was the screenplay for The Audition (2019). Her script for Sisters Apart is well thought-out and considered and the character development is convincing, giving a credible and moving narrative.
“Rojda (Rosa) is torn between her Kurdish roots and her German identity as a Bundeswehr soldier when she volunteers for a mission to train female Kurdish soldiers in Iraq to fight ISIS. No one must know that she is actually looking for her missing sister. Although shot on a small budget the script and excellent performances by the two lead actresses makes Sisters Apart a compelling drama. A strong example of how clear-sighted ideas trump production design.”