PRFDHR and ESC Film: Malta Calling - Movie Screening and Q&A with film director Mauro Mondello

Movie screening Thursday, October 13th, 2022 (in-person; 30mn) followed immediately by Q&A session (75mn).

Malta, a tiny island-state in the Mediterranean Sea, has been a member of the European Union since January 1st, 2004, and a member of the Schengen area since December 21st, 2007. Since then Malta has shifted to become a country of immigration and has seemingly provided a golden gateway for the boatloads of people that escape the African shores in search of a better way of life. In the meanwhile, the dynamics of ethnic and race relations in the island have grown to be synonymous with migration. Within social discourse, policy and research, the emphasis is now on understanding and combatting racial discrimination. The exponential growth of anti-migrant movements in Malta is a phenomenon of large proportions, with dozens of groups on social networks and three ultra-nationalist parties. The Maltese government has been accused several times for the conditions of the reception centers where asylum seekers are hosted. While Malta continues to have no long-term integration strategy targeting refugees, they will remain the most vulnerable and marginalised group in the country, experiencing isolation and a very low level of interaction with Maltese people. ‘Malta Calling’ looks at how migration has influenced Maltese political and social discourse, becoming somehow a laboratory of populism for the whole European continent. The documentary has won the Best short documentary at Stockholm City Film Festival, Boden Film Festival, and Short Film Factory Festival.

MAURO MONDELLO is a freelance reporter, war correspondent and documentary filmmaker. In the last eight months he has been reporting from Ukraine for several international news outlets. His work mainly focuses on geopolitics, war, human rights and migration, with a special interest on the areas of Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus and the Arab world, and a preference for the long-form reportage format. He has published stories and reportages for The Guardian, Die Zeit, Newlines Magazine, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Expresso, La Stampa, La Repubblica, Avvenire, Courrier International, among others. He was selected in 2020 for the Maurice Greenberg World Fellows Program at Yale University.

Speaker:
Mauro Mondello - freelance reporter, war correspondent and documentary filmmaker
Moderator:
Lucio Gussetti - EU Visiting Fellow, European Studies Council, MacMillan Center