Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1088108
THIS WEEK FILM maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 MARCH 2019 4 Independent filmmaker Maxime Durand speaks to TEODOR RELJIC about 'Coming Soon'; his self- produced series of humorous shorts inspired by Malta's shambolic public transport system First off, could you tell us a little bit about yourself? What brought you to Malta, and what led to your decision to make a web series in and around the island? I'm an independent film-maker and I've been living in Malta for over four years. I'm half-French and half-British… which I guess will soon make me only half-European. I came on a holiday with a friend a bit by coincidence and discovered a beautiful place that nobody talked about. When I moved out of Lon- don, Malta was the first choice and ticked all the boxes. The beauty and diversity of Malta was certainly the initial spark of inspiration that led to my web series, 'Coming Soon'. Speaking of 'Coming Soon' – why did you believe the local public transport situation provided enough fodder to sustain an entire series? The series is a satirical com- edy about public transport, in the form of 20 short episodes inspired by various genres of cinema. The tagline – 'What if your transport problems happened in movies?' – pretty much says it all, really. My own experience of public transport over the past four years, and expe- riencing the over-crowded vehi- cles themselves, certainly gave me more than enough fodder, but in- corporating other people's stories was the cherry on the cake. When I first came here, I worked in ca- tering, so I accumulated enough stories to fill 20 seasons' worth of the show, I think. When people from various social, political and religious backgrounds – drivers or pedestrians, foreign residents or tourists from all over the world – agree on Malta's transport system, then you know you're not mad. The silver lining is that it unites people. In a way, it's the Babylon of hatred when it comes to transport. What kind of logistical situation did you work under to create Coming Soon? Is it quite a low-budget affair and if so, what were some of the main challenges inherent in putting it all together? I make films as a one-man crew, with little to no budget, while pushing my limits. This is the way I work generally and it excites me, but this web series was my most ambitious project so far. Each one of the 20 stories cost less than €60 to make, and a little under 150 people were involved in the whole project, so I'd say production was the hardest challenge. The organi- sation and coordination was never my favourite aspect of the experi- ence, but Malta made it all that lit- tle bit more possible. I've always been lucky to find help and support for my projects in France and Eng- Teodor Reljic Building micro- stories out of Malta's 'Babylon of hatred'