03-10-2022

FNE Oscar Watch 2023: Malta Selects Carmen as Oscar Candidate

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    Carmen by Valerie Buhagiar Carmen by Valerie Buhagiar credit: Falkun Films

    VALLETTA: Carmen directed by Valerie Buhagiar and starring Natascha McElhone, has been selected as Malta’s candidate for the 95th Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award in the Best International Feature Film category. The film is a Maltese/Canadian coproduction.

    The third feature film by Valerie Buhagiar and her first one shot entirely in Malta (actress/director Buhagiar moved to and worked in Canada) is focusing on a woman who finds love and life anew at 50 in a Maltese village in the 1980s, after the death of the brother she devoted her life to.

    Produced by Falkun Films, coproduced by Canada’s Aiken Heart Films and supported by the Malta Film Fund, Carmen is one of the very few Maltese-led coproductions. The Maltese producers are Pierre Ellul and Anika Psaila Savona.

    Carmen received the Best Cinematography Award at the Canadian Whistler Film Festival in 2021, as well as the Best Feature Film Award at the Canadian Film Fest and the Best of Show at the Female Eye Festival, both awards in 2022.

    The special domestic premiere of the film was held on 30 September 2022.

    The Malta Academy Selection Committee is jointly organised by the Malta Producers’s Association (MPA) and the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association (MEIA).