Luzzu

A hardworking Maltese fisherman, Jesmark is faced with an agonising choice, a moral decision. He can repair his leaky luzzu - a traditional, multi-coloured wooden fishing boat - and continue to eke out a living at sea with hardly any fish, for his wife and newborn son, just as his father and grandfather did before him. Or, he can decommission his luzzu 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.

What the critics say….

“Its lead actor, Jesmark Scicluna, gives it heart…..he’s an authentic Maltese fisherman who happens to have good looks and a resolute screen presence” - Edward Porter, Times (UK)

“Real-life fisherman Jesmark Scicluna leads a cast of largely non-professional actors in this impressive study of an industry – and way of life – in crisis…The magnetic Scicluna is a Maltese fisherman in real life. His performance is impressively complex:…..the brash confidence that earns him a lucrative job with a black-market fish trader and the soul-sapping self-loathing of a man who feels a failure in the shadow of forebears” - Wendy Ide, The Observer

“Everyone in the film actually lives in this world. David Scicluna plays Jesmark’s friend (in real life, the two men are cousins). They are both riveting. Jesmark’s slip-side into criminality is that much more painful, because his love for the luzzu, his family, and the harbor is so apparent.” - Sheila O’Malley, Roger Ebert