On 17th November 2023, the Embassy of Malta in Warsaw in
collaboration with the Malta Tourism Authority, represented by its Visit Malta
Office in Warsaw, screened the film CARMEN. The film, produced and
directed by the Maltese Canadian Valerie Buhagiar, won the 2022 Canadian Film Festival in Toronto.
In her welcoming remarks, H.E.
Ambassador Marisa Farrugia gave a brief overview of the film plot which was
shot in Gozo and Malta. The bittersweet comedy romance drama is based on
true events of traditional life in a rural Maltese village in the 1980s.
‘Carmen’ features the story of a spinster who spent most of her life as a
housekeeper for her brother, the Catholic parish priest. It is a story of a
woman on a quest to find her own voice rediscovering herself.
The Ambassador highlighted the
opportunities that Malta has been offering in film facilities for the last
fifty-eight years. She briefly touched upon the production facilities one
finds at the Malta film studios while referring to some renowned films and
blockbusters that were shot in Malta in the last four decades.
The film screening of ‘Carmen’ was
held as part of the Embassy’s cultural diplomacy initiative and was held at
Kino Kultura, Warsaw, followed by light refreshments. The event was well
attended by members of the diplomatic corps, academics, Polish filmmakers,
members from the Maltese community in Poland and by some Polish government
officials.
The
film served as an opportunity for the audience to watch a movie in the Maltese
language and admire the sparkling colourful lights of the Gozitan countryside
and the seaside scenery, all enticing sights to promote tourism to the Maltese
islands.