A reminder that Simshar – Malta’s first ever submission to the Oscars – will be screening at the beautiful, 1949 Don Bosco Oratory Cinema, in Victoria, Gozo, on the 6th-10th and the 12th of April at 8.00pm.

There will be key cast and crew present during the screening on the 7th, and a Q&A with the filmmakers after the screening on the 10th.

The critically acclaimed film is based on a true story which happened in the Maltese fishing village of Marsaxlokk in 2008 and is shot in 21 locations around the Islands. The film is in Maltese and English, with English subtitles.

Eleven-year-old Theo sets off on his first expedition on the family fishing boat ‘Simshar’ together with his father, grandfather and a Malian migrant worker. Disaster strikes when a fire breaks out onboard, leaving the crew stranded in open water.

Also in the Mediterranean, a Turkish vessel rescues African migrants between Malta and the Italian island of Lampedusa with tensions running high when neither country allows disembarkation.

On land, John, a soldier in the Maltese armed forces, is embroiled with the diplomatic deadlock whilst assisting with the search for the missing ‘Simshar,’ However, he meets resistance from the fishing community which is being rallied by Theo’s mother Sharin and conducting their own search, in an attempt to shun the authorities who they fear will castigated the ‘Simshar’ for illegal tuna fishing.

The sea stories unravel in parallel and culminate tragically as the Simshar’s crew perish one by one…

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