Luzzu

2022 • 94 minutes

About this movie

Jesmark, a struggling fisherman on the island of Malta, must make an agonising choice: repair his leaking luzzu - the traditional wooden fishing boat that has been in his family for generations - or decommission it in exchange for a government pay-out. Faced with the temptation of making easy money working for a black-market fishing operation, Jesmark must reconcile his desire to preserve tradition with the need to provide for his young family. The award-winning and critically acclaimed debut of writer-director Alex Camilleri recalls the neorealist traditions of Luchino Visconti, Roberto Rossellini and Ramin Bahrani, and offers a glimpse into the beauty of an island rarely portrayed in cinema.