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Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival (June 21-29) is set to honour US actor Barbie Ferreira with its inaugural rising star award.

Ferreira, best known for her role in the first two seasons of HBO’s Euphoria,will receive the award at the festival’s Golden Bee awards ceremony in Valletta, Malta, on June 29.

The actor made her feature-film acting debut last year in 2024’sBob Trevino Likes It. Directed by Tracie Laymon, the film won the SXSW 2024 awards for narrative feature in both the grand jury and audience categories.

The festival has introduced the award for its third edition to recognise...

The Mediterrane Film Festival’s Golden Bee Awards will shine a spotlight on some Hollywood stars this weekend.

Leading the pack will be Euphoria breakout Barbie Ferreira who is set to receive an inaugural rising star award during the festival’s closing night gala ceremony on Sunday night in Malta.

The Malta Film Commission has also revealed that the gala ceremony will feature appearances by Anna Camp, Chris Perfetti, Karen Pittman, Jared Harris, Edmund Donovan, Joaquim De Almeida, Jon Watts, Kerry Ingram, Jake Schreier, Charlese Antoinette, Rick Carter, Bailey Bass, Gráinne Humphreys, Adrian Wootton (British film commissioner), Johann Grech (Malta film commissioner), Beverly Cutajar (chairperson of the Malta film commission) and Yolanthe Cabau.

The event will also see festival awards handed out across such categories as best feature film, best performance, best screenwriting, people’s choice, jury’s choice, mare nostrum, lifetime achievement, career achievement and Malta film legend.

Ferreira...

Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival will stage its third edition from 21–29 June in Valletta and seaside venues, coinciding with the centenary of filmmaking on the islands. Newly appointed festival director Ray Calleja and curator Mark Adams say this year’s theme, “We Are Film,” is meant to underline cinema’s power to bridge cultures across the Mediterranean arc.

The ten-title competition is led by South African climate thriller “The Return,” Italian-Turkish co-production “Hot Milk,” and Neil Marshall’s Malta-set psychological chiller “Compulsion,” whose world premiere taps into the islands’ growing reputation as a noir backdrop. Twelve further features will screen out of competition, including Ira Sachs’ portrait film “Peter Hujar’s Day.” A six-film “Future Visions” sidebar will focus on environmental storytelling, echoing Malta’s own vulnerability to rising seas.

An international jury chaired by director Catherine Hardwicke and two-time Oscar-winning production designer Rick Carter will decide the Golden Bee awards,...

The Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta is returning for its third edition with more than 40 films from over 20 countries. Running from June 21-29 in the island’s capital, Valletta, the festival has set programming for its Competition, Out of Competition and Mare Nostrum sections.

Competition films will include Uberto Pasolini’s “The Return,” starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche; Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s directorial debut, “Hot Milk,” “For the Love of a Woman” (Per amore di una donna) from Italian director Guido Chiesa; “Harvest” from Athina Rachel Tsangari; and Maltese director Joshua Cassar Gaspar’s “The Theft of the Caravaggio.”

Out of competition special screenings will include Ira Sachs’ “Peter Hujar’s Day” with Ben Wishaw and Rebecca Hall, the Malta-set erotic thriller “Compulsion” by Neil Marshall, “Four Letters of Love” with Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne and “Time Travel is Dangerous,” narrated by Stephen Fry.

A sidebar section...

Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk, Ira Sachs’ Peter Hujar’s Day and James Griffiths’ The Ballad Of Wallis Island are among the 28 features programmed for the third edition of Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival (June 21-29).

The festival has programmed 10 films in its main competition strand; with 12 out of competition titles; and six films in the environmentally-focused Mare Nostrum section.

Scroll down for the full list of titles

The festival will also present an honorary Golden Bee lifetime achievement award to UK producer Jeremy Thomas.

Thomas will participate in a masterclass conversation with Film London chief executive Adrian Wootton.

Other...

The 2025 edition of the Mediterrane Film Festival is falling into focus.

The third installment of the festival — scheduled to take place in Valletta, Malta from June 21-29 — has reeled in a jury that includes filmmaker Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight), Oscar winning production designer Rick Carter (Avatar), costume designer Charlese Antoinette (Air), set decorator Elli Griff (Napoleon), production designer James Price (Poor Things), Maltese director Mario Philip Azzopardi (Zos: Zone of Separation). The jury will determine the recipients of the Golden Bee Awards, a list that will be unveiled at a gala, on June 29.

The Mediterrane Film Festival, which is under the direction of a new creative team in festival director Ray Calleja and curator Mark Adams, features three pillars of programming: main competition (films from across the Mediterranean), out of competition (global selections) and Mare Nostrum or Our Sea (films dedicated to sustainability and environmental themes). The latter’s jury includes Grainne Humphreys,...

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Sbiff) has announced the winners of their 40th annual film awards. All three short award recipients are now eligible for the 2026 Academy Awards.

“It’s an undeniable pleasure to celebrate such a diverse and wonderful array of winning films,” said Sbiff director of programming Claudia Puig. “We have been so excited to showcase storytelling from 60 countries around the world in our slate of 185 films at Sbiff. The jury winners this year exemplify the best of creative independent filmmaking, covering subjects ranging from immigration, pay equity, environmental dangers, unwanted pregnancy, neuroscience and hempcrete construction.”

The 2025 Sbiff Awards ceremony took place on Feb. 15 at the El Encanto in Santa Barbara. The winning films were chosen by jury members Margaret Lazarus, Max Barbakow, Estrella Araiza, Shawn Patterson, Jeff Christian, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Gregory Nava, Andres Castillo, and Jeff Arch.

See the full list of winners below:

Audience Choice Award: “Out of Plain Sight,...

The Mediterrane Film Festival has a newly-installed leadership team for 2025 in the form of Ray Calleja as fest director and Mark Adams as fest curator.

Calleja assumes the post after having worked for 45 years across television, film, theater, radio, culture and more as a performer, director and producer. Calleja directed cultural and national events including the commonwealth heads of government meeting opening ceremony in 2015 and Malta’s presidency of the council of the EU cultural program in 2017. He also served as the artistic director for the Malta Special Olympics Invitational Games in 2022.

Adams is a noted film critic, programmer and fest consultant with more than three decades of experience under his belt. He has held high profile roles including artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival and chief film critic for Screen International. Adams has served on juries at festivals like Sundance, Venice and Toronto.

Established in 2023, the Mediterrane...

Former Edinburgh International Film Festival artistic director and Screen International chief film critic Mark Adams is to join the Mediterrane Film Festival for its third edition, taking place in Malta from June 21-29.

Adams joins as part of Mediterrane’s newly-installed leadership team, working as festival curator alongside festival director Ray Calleja.

Calleja and Adams take over from Teresa Cavina who was the festival’s artistic director for its second edition.

Calleja has directed cultural and national events in Malta, including the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Opening Ceremony in 2015, Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the EU cultural...

Stars: Joshua Tonks, Chris Lines, Rosie Edwards, Elliot Hadley, Jake Watkins, Michaela Longden, Ray Calleja, Jon Holmes | Written and Directed by Charlie Steeds

Lord of Wolves, the latest film from British writer/director Charlie Steeds, marks the third time he’s taken on the subject of lycanthropy. Unlike A Werewolf in England and Werewolf Castle, Lord of Wolves creates a new version of the werewolf mythos. Trying to redefine a traditional creature can be a risky task, especially to the extent that Steed does it here, but what he has in mind for them is quite interesting.

Nic Cross is a photographer living in London. On his way home one evening, he sees a strange man in the subway holding an object shaped like a pyramid. When his roommate and mentor Professor Malone suddenly dies, he comes into possession of one like it.

The film’s publicity only mentioned Nic,...

Stars: Tom Butcher, Russell Biles, Ray Calleja, Aryana Neo, Corrinne Wicks, Lola Knight, Sylvester McCoy, Paul Foot | Written and Directed by James Eaves

It was pretty much inevitable that we’d get a movie like The Apocalypse Box at some point this year. With a contentious election and political rioting in both France and the UK, where the film is from, and a divisive vote just a few months away in the US, someone was going to make a politically themed horror film. And that someone is writer/director James Eaves.

Two armed men kill an elderly antique dealer, making her death look like a suicide. A shot of a box-shaped object transitions to one of a ballot box. It’s the day before the election and Piers Stonesmith is making a campaign appearance. Running on the slogan “Keep Britain British” his party is behind by eight points in the polls,...

"You betrayed me!" Strike Media has revealed the first teaser trailer for a British crime film titled Tales of Babylon, produced by Groucho Arts, and directed by Pelayo De Lario. No release date is set yet, as this is just a promo teaser since the film is still trying to secure distribution worldwide. Two siblings looking to escape their abusive mobster grandfather join forces with a pair of hitmen with a knack for the theatrical in their search for a new life. These four different hit-men find themselves viewing for a job without knowing the others are involved, leading to problems with the boss. Crime, money and violence in London are at the center of this tale of modern Babylon. Starring Clive Russell, Billie Gadsdon, Aaron Cobham, Paul Cassidy, Maria Crittell, & Ray Calleja. This is a quick first look but it seems solid. Keep an eye out for it. ›››

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Post-production has been completed and a sneak peek trailer has been released for Groucho Arts’ London-set crime thriller “Tales of Babylon.”

The film stars Clive Russell (“Game of Thrones”), Billie Gadsdon (“Cruella”), Aaron Cobham (“The Spanish Princess”), Paul Cassidy (“Outlander”), Maria Crittell (“Doctors”) and Ray Calleja (“Mr. Selfridge”). It is directed by Pelayo De Lario, whose “Jack” was awarded on the festival circuit in 2021.

“Tales of Babylon” follows two siblings looking to escape their abusive mobster grandfather, who join forces with a pair of hitmen with a knack for the theatrical in their search for a new life. It was shot around the London Docklands, Brixton, Greenwich, Hammersmith and Hoxton.

De Lario said: “We are thrilled to finally have finished ‘Tales of Babylon,’ it is a project that all of us have poured our hearts into, spending many sleepless nights trying to make it the amazing movie that it is.

Groucho Arts’ crime thriller film “Tales of Babylon” has wrapped principal photography and is currently in post-production.

The film stars Clive Russell (“Game of Thrones”), Billie Gadsdon (“Cruella”), Aaron Cobham (“The Spanish Princess”), Paul Cassidy (“Outlander”), Maria Crittell (“Doctors”) and Ray Calleja (“Mr. Selfridge”). It is directed by Pelayo De Lario, whose “Jack” was awarded on the festival circuit in 2021.

“Tales of Babylon” follows two siblings looking to escape their abusive mobster grandfather, who join forces with a pair of hitmen with a knack for the theatrical in their search for a new life. It was shot around the London Docklands, Brixton, Greenwich, Hammersmith and Hoxton.

De Lario said: “‘Tales of Babylon’ is a compilation of stories from the points of view of different criminals in London, modern day Babylon. I wrote ‘Tales of Babylon’ as a type of love letter to this city, a story compiling all the stories...

Surge Trailer — Aneil Karia‘s Surge (2020) UK movie trailer has been released by BritFlicks. The Surge trailer stars Ben Whishaw, Ellie Haddington, Jasmine Jobson, Laurence Spellman, Ryan McKen, Stacha Hicks, Bradley Taylor, Muna Otaru, Ray Calleja, Bogdan Kominowski, and Lucy Thackeray. Crew Rupert Jones, Rita Kalnejais, and Aneil Karia wrote the screenplay for Surge. Tujiko [...]

Continue reading: Surge (2020) UK Movie Trailer: Ben Whishaw Descends into Manic Madness in Aneil Karia’s Thriller Film...