The third installment of Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival now officially has a lineup.
Set to take place in Valletta, the island’s capital, from June 21-29, the festival has confirmed more than 40 films from 20 countries, set a series of masterclass presentations featuring filmmakers like Joe Carnahan and Catherine Hardwicke, and locked a Golden Bee Lifetime Achievement Award honoree in Jeremy Thomas, founder of Recorded Picture Company.
The 10 films making up the main competition are as follows: Uberto Pasolini’s The Return starring The English Patient vets Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche; Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s directorial debut, Hot Milk, adapted from the novel by Deborah Levy and starring Vicky Krieps and Emma Mackey; Guido Chiesa’s For the Love of a Woman; Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Harvest based on the novel by Jim Crace; Maltese director Joshua Cassar Gaspar’s The Theft of the Caravaggio; Amel Guellaty’s Where The Wind Comes From about a young couple’s road trip through Tunisia; Igor Bezinović’s meta documentary Fiume o Morte!; Seloua El Gouni’s The Wound; Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s genre mystery Reflection in a Dead Diamond; and Julio Medem’s 8.
Fiennes and Binoche in Pasolini’s The Return.
Courtesy of Modern Films
A still from Bezinović’s documentary Fiume o Morte!
Courtesy of Mediterrane Film Festival
A still from Guellaty’s Where The Wind Comes From.
Courtesy of Mediterrane Film Festival
Titles plucked to screen out of competition at the Mediterrane Film Festival include Ira Sachs’ Sundance Film Festival debut Peter Hujar’s Day starring Ben Whishaw, Rebecca Hall; Malta-set erotic thriller Compulsion by Neil Marshall starring and co-written by Charlotte Kirk; Polly Steele’s Four Letters of Love starring Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne; Chris Reading’s Time Travel is Dangerous starring Johnny Vegas, Jane Horrocks, Sophie Thompson and Mark Heap and narrated by Stephen Fry; Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s The Extraordinary Miss Flower starring Icelandic singer-songwriter Emilíana Torrini; James Griffith’s The Ballad of Wallis Island starring Tom Basden, Carey Mulligan and Tim Key; Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet starring Lily Gladstone, Bowen Yang, Kelly Marie Tran and Joan Chen; the Jakarta-set post-war period thriller Love is a Battlefield; Piotr Winiewicz’s experimental film About a Hero, which mixes artificial intelligence and the work of German auteur Werner Herzog with his permission.
The 2025 Mediterrane Film Festival also features a sidebar curated in collaboration with FilmItalia that celebrates new Italian female filmmakers: Giulia Louise Steigerwalt’s porn-meets-politics retelling in Diva Futura starring Pietro Castellitto, Barbara Ronchi and Denise Capezza; Margherita Vicario’s rousing musical Gloria! about a group of confined young women in 18th century Venice; and Maria Grazia Perria’s Love and Glory — The Long Deledda about the life of Sardinian novelist Grazia Deledda.
In other sidebar news, the festival’s Mare Nostrum section, which is curated around themes of climate and environmentalism, will feature Sandra Winther’s Lowland Kids about the last two teenagers on Louisiana’s Isle de Jean Charles; Eleanor Mortimer’s How Deep is Your Love about undiscovered sea creatures amid the threat of sea mining; Pia Marais’ Amazon jungle-set Transamazonia; Léo Favier’s Miyazaki: Spirit of Nature about the life and works of Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki; David Baute’s animated Black Butterflies; and Robin Petré’s Only on Earth about Galicia, one of Europe’s most wildfire-prone areas, and its impact on horses.
As previously reported, this year’s jury includes 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.
In addition to sessions with Carnahan and Hardwicke, the festival’s masterclass presentations will also feature jury members Carter and Griff, lifetime achievement award honoree Thomas, and Amazon Original Movies head of physical production Glenn Gainor.
This year’s festival is being curated with the theme “We Are Film,” which is meant to be a reflection of the festival’s mission to unite creators and audiences in honoring the universal language of film. It also very much aligns with a major Malta milestone: 2025 marks 100 years of filmmaking in the area, dating back to its first feature film, 1925’s Sons of the Sea. In the century since, it has become a hot production hub thanks to its architecture, landscapes and water-based facilities at Malta Film Studios. Movies that have been shot in the area include Gladiator, Troy, Game of Thrones, Napoleon and many more.
“As we celebrate 100 years of filmmaking in Malta, we’re honored to welcome an exceptional panel of judges who reflect the depth, diversity, and global reach of contemporary cinema. Together with our festival curator, Mark Adams, we’re committed to shaping a program that not only honors Malta’s cinematic past but also champions bold new voices from across the Mediterranean and beyond,” said festival director Ray Calleja.
Added Malta film commissioner Johann Grech: “The Mediterrane Film Festival was born from a simple yet powerful idea — to connect creative minds from the Mediterranean and across Europe and transform their ideas into reality. We stand for opportunity, collaboration and creativity.”
More information about this year’s Mediterrane Film Festival and its lineup can be found here.
A shot of the sea off the coast of Malta, home to the Mediterrane Film Festival.
Courtesy of Mediterrane Film Festival
