TRAILERS

A Fisherman's Dilemma - First Trailer for Acclaimed Malta Film 'Luzzu'

by Alex Billington
August 17, 2021
Source: YouTube

"If you change every piece of a boat… is it still the same boat?" Kino Lorber has unveiled the official US trailer for an acclaimed indie film from the tiny island nation of Malta titled Luzzu, which first premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year where it won a Special Jury Prize for non-professional lead actor Jesmark Scicluna. Set on the island following an old school fisher, a man risks everything to provide for his wife and newborn son by entering Malta's black-market fishing industry. Scicluna is a real life Maltese fisherman, and co-stars with Michela Farrugia, David Scicluna, Frida Cauchi, and Uday McLean. The new film "heralds the arrival of writer-director-editor Alex Camilleri, a gripping storyteller in the neorealist tradition of early Luchino Visconti and the Dardenne brothers as well as his mentor Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart, The White Tiger), a producer of the film." This is one of my favorite discoveries out of Sundance this year, a heartwrenching but very meaningful story about the changing times we live in.

Here's the official US trailer (+ poster) for Alex Camilleri's Luzzu, direct from KL's YouTube:

A hardworking Maltese fisherman, Jesmark (played by real life fisherman Jesmark Scicluna) is faced with an agonizing choice. He could repair his leaky wooden luzzu boat in the hopes of eking out a meager living at sea for his wife and newborn son, just as his father and father’s father did before him. Or he could 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 is both written and directed by up-and-coming Maltese-American filmmaker Alex Camilleri, making his feature directorial debut after a few short films previously. Produced by Rebecca Anastasi, Ramin Bahrani, Alex Camilleri and Oliver Mallia. This initially premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Kino Lorber will debut Camilleri's Luzzu in select US theaters + "virtual cinemas" starting October 15th, 2021 this fall. For more info, visit their site.

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