On Wednesday 26 August 2026, as part of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival 2026, Inizjamed hosted a night of poetry films followed by a panel discussion. The films included “Aċitilena” (2015) by Luke Borg, filmed in Marsa Creek and featuring Adrian Grima’s poem in Maltese published in Klin u Kapriċċi Oħra (Klabb Kotba Maltin, 2015), translated into English by Albert Gatt (“Acetylene”) and published in Last-Ditch Ecstasy (Poetrywala, Mumbai, 2017).
According to film maker and academic, Kenneth Scicluna, Aċitilena (Acytelene),
“Just like the homonymous poem by Adrian Grima on which it is based, Luke Borg’s film shows the harbour no tourist sees. The harbour whose face is as furrowed as that of Dürer’s mother, as rough as life can force one to be, and yet, as genuine and as full of honest life, as no cruise-liner terminal could ever be.”
Poetry Film Night and Panel
Inizjamed returns to a poetical genre it helped pioneer in Malta: the poetry film. As part of Valletta 2018, Inizjamed was among the first to commission poetry films locally — and this year, that initiative comes back to life with a curated screening of poetry and poetical films from Malta and abroad.
The selection is being curated by Kenneth Scicluna, who will also lead the panel discussion, including key panelists like Elizabeth Grech (Mana Chuma Teatro), that follows the screening. The conversation will tap into the lines that blurs the poetry film and the poetical film, and how film can carry or transform or extend a poem’s language, rhythm, and meaning.
Films tal-Poeżija
Inizjamed jerġa’ lura għal ġeneru poetiku li kien fost il-pijunieri tiegħu f’Malta: il-film tal-poeżija. Bħala parti minn Valletta 2018, Inizjamed kien fost l-ewwel li kkummissjona films tal-poeżija lokalment — u din is-sena, din l-inizjattiva qed terġa’ tieħu l-ħajja b’għażla kkurata ta’ films poetiċi u tal-poeżija minn Malta u lil hinn.
Dan huwa l-kumment tad-direttur tal-films u lettur Kenneth Scicluna, dwar “Aċitilena”:
Bħall-poeżija omonima ta’ Adrian Grima, li fuqha hu msejjes, il-film ta’ Luke Borg hu xhud tal-port li l-ebda turist ma jara. Port li ġarrab, u li jilbes dak it-tiġrib fit-tikmix ta’ wiċċu. Port li għex ħajja b’iktar inżul milli tlugħ, imma li mexa u għadd u li jaħlef fuq kull pass li kellu jagħmel — port ħaj u ġenwin kif l-ebda terminal tal-cruise-liners qatt ma jista’ jkun.
L-għażla qed tiġi kkurata minn Kenneth Scicluna, li se jmexxi wkoll id-diskussjoni wara l-wiri tal-films, li se tinkludi figuri importanti bħal Elizabeth Grech (Mana Chuma Teatro). Id-diskussjoni se tidħol fl-ispazju sfuż bejn il-film tal-poeżija u l-film poetiku, u kif il-films jistgħu jġorru, jittrasformaw jew jestendu l-lingwa, ir-ritmu u t-tifsir tal-poeżija.
Ħajr/Thanks to: Arts Council Malta, Versopolis, APS Bank, Spazju Kreattiv, Għaqda tal-Malti — Università, Istituto Italiano di Cultura di La Valletta, Teatru Salesjan, Vincent’s Eco Farm, Fondazzjoni tal-Arkivji Nutarili, Seen and Heard, La Rotta dei Fenici.
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