LUZZU

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A hardworking Maltese fisherman, Jesmark is faced with an agonizing choice. He can repair his leaky luzzu – a traditional, multicolored wooden fishing boat – in the hopes of eking out a meager living at sea for his wife and newborn son, just as his father and grandfather did before him. Or he can decommission it in exchange for an EU payout and cast his lot with a sinister black-market operation that is decimating the Mediterranean fish population and the livelihoods of the local families who depend on it. Luzzu won a Sundance Jury Prize for its nonprofessional lead actor Jesmark Scicluna, a real-life Maltese fisherman, and heralds the arrival of writer-director-editor Alex Camilleri. His gripping film operates in the neorealist tradition of Luchino Visconti, Roberto Rosselini, and the Dardenne brothers and calls to mind the work of his mentor Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart, The White Tiger), also a producer of the film.

Malta’s International Oscar Entry 

Official selection New Directors/New Films 

Sundance Film Festival Winner – Special Jury Prize for the lead actor

“Camilleri demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of how small moments can build a sense of place… Malta’s views are arresting, but the images Camilleri chooses would never be found in a travel brochure. In his subtle, vérité approach, he captures something special — not one man’s crisis, but a community’s culture.” – Natalia Winkelman, The New York Times

“A stirringly nuanced and dazzlingly shot humanistic drama.” 

– Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times

“A neorealist telling in the tradition of the Dardenne brothers.”

– Ryan Lattanzio, Indiewire

“Cinematic magic. Stunning newcomer Jesmark Scicluna… will remind you of Daniel Day-Lewis.”

– Kurt Brokaw, The Independent Magazine

“An affecting neorealist drama… indebted to the stripped-bare postwar Italian cinema of Visconti and Rossellini.” 

– Guy Lodge, Variety

“A moving tale of real-world strife… part observational drama, part social thriller.”

– Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

“The kind of film Roberto Rossellini would have made if he were still alive today.” 

–Jordan Ruimy, World of Reel

“A simple, yet beautiful film due to this sense of place, Luzzu highlights a story that’s rooted in tradition and particularity.” 

– Michael Frank, The Film Stage

“Manages to be both self-contained, in its depiction of an embattled community, but also unexpectedly far-reaching in its themes.” 

– Wendy Ide, Screen Daily

“One of my favorite discoveries out of Sundance this year, a heart wrenching but very meaningful story about the changing times we live in.” 

– Alex Billington, Firstshowing.net