Malta’s film scene leaps onto Asia’s biggest stage at Busan International Film Festival

# Cinema: All eyes turn to Asia’s biggest film festival – and Valletta is watching too

While the last rays of a Maltese summer still glint off the limestone balconies of Strait Street, cinephiles from Seoul to Busan are rolling out a red carpet that stretches 9,000 kilometres east. The 28th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) unspools 4–13 October with 269 titles from 63 countries, but don’t think the buzz stops at Incheon immigration. From the comfy sofas of Spazju Kreattiv to the popcorn-scented bar at Embassy Cinemas, Malta’s small but fiercely passionate film community is glued to the line-up—and for good reason.

## Why should an island nation of 520,000 care?

Because for the first time in the festival’s history, a Maltese co-production is screening in the acclaimed “Wide Angle” documentary section. “Il-Ħolma tal-Fenek” (The Dream of the Rabbit), a poetic short about Gozo’s transient rabbit hunters co-directed by Maltese filmmaker Lisa Camilleri and Korean cinematographer Park Min-ho, was selected from 2,400 submissions. It’s only eight minutes long, but its inclusion is a giant hop for the local industry. “We punched our tiny flag onto a 30-metre screen,” Camilleri laughed down a Zoom line from Haeundae Beach. “When the credits rolled, people asked where Malta was. By the end of the Q&A, they wanted to book flights.”

Malta Film Commission CEO Johann Grech calls the selection “proof that our rebate and cash-rebate schemes are attracting not just Marvel blockbusters but arthouse collaborations.” Since 2020, Malta has returned €46 million to foreign producers, yet co-productions with Asian partners still account for less than 2% of permits. Grech hopes BIFF exposure will “open doors to Korea’s formidable post-production houses and animation talent.”

## A cultural bridge built on popcorn and pastizzi

Busan isn’t only a marketplace for glitzy deals; it’s a cultural litmus test. This year’s opener—Zhang Yimou’s “Under the Light”—delves into Chinese corruption, while the buzziest title, “The Childe”, is a neon-noir that skewers Korean class divisions. Themes of identity, migration and island life resonate loudly in Malta, itself grappling with rapid gentrification. “Asian cinema’s obsession with urban pressure feels eerily familiar,” notes University of Malta media lecturer Dr. Katya Micallef. “We’re both peninsulas fighting to keep our language, our space, our stories.”

That resonance is translating into audience appetite. Last April, Spazju Kreattiv’s “Korean New Wave” weekend sold out all 300 seats, forcing organisers to add 4 a.m. screenings for Bong Joon-ho’s “Memories of Murder”. Curator Roberta Farrugia admits she imported the event “on a hunch”; she’s now fielding daily messages asking when the next kimchi-flavoured programme drops. “Maltese viewers want narratives beyond American superheroes,” she says. “They’re discovering that emotional truth travels well, even with subtitles.”

## From the big screen to the local economy

The ripple effect could be tangible. Korean tourism to Malta jumped 38% between 2015 and 2019, spurred partly by cable dramas shot in Mdina. With BIFF beaming drone shots of Dingli Cliffs to a global audience of 170 million, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo senses “an untapped market of cine-tourists willing to fly 14 hours for the real-life set.” Plans are already afoot for a “Film Malta-Korea” twin-pass that bundles visits to Ġgantija temples with studio tours of Busan’s famed outdoor filming streets.

Back home, the festival has galvanized a new generation of storytellers. At Malta’s Junior College, 19-year-old media student Nathan Xuereb just crowd-funded €5,000 to shoot his short “Kimchi & Kinnie”, a cross-cultural comedy about a Korean exchange student who falls for a Maltese baker. “If Lisa can do it, so can I,” he grins, adjusting a BIFF baseball cap shipped courtesy of the festival’s talent incubator. His project is exactly the kind of grassroots energy the Malta Arts Council wants to nurture; applications for the €25,000 “Cinema Without Borders” grant have tripled since September.

## Conclusion: A reel opportunity

As the Valletta skyline darkens and another ferry full of festival flyers heads to Sicily, the takeaway is clear: Asia’s biggest film party isn’t just Korea’s Oscars warm-up. It’s a mirror where Malta sees its own potential refracted back—colourful, complicated, and ready for its close-up. Whether you’re a casual Netflix surfer or a die-hard cineaste, keep one eye on Busan this week. Somewhere among the sea of hanbok-inspired gowns, a little rabbit dreamt in Maltese—and the world is finally listening.