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AN opinion piece in a recent issue of The Times - written by Malcolm Scerri-Ferrante - attempted to put the record straight about the film industry under the last Nationalist ad- ministration. It is incredible that practically nobody from the PN said any- thing about the current hype on the film 'industry' and the deni- gration of what used to happen under a PN administration. In fact, it had to be an apoliti- cal observer to attempt to correct certain misleading impressions disseminated by the current ad- ministration. Scerri-Ferrante concluded cor- rectly that Labour is more pro- active where the film industry is concerned. Its motives are clear- ly driven by various agendas but one cannot say no progress is being made when compared to what used to happen under the PN. He did this with an interest- ing proviso: the industry is only 'strong' when there is a healthy amount of local crew and local infrastructure to meet the de- mands of filming and when the turnover is not dependent on large sums of taxpayers' money given to blockbuster films to help fund their foreign crew and re- coup expenses made in hiring of equipment. The recent spate of what seems to many as unlimited spending for the organisation of the Mediterrane Film Festival - plus the convention organised in par- allel with it - has raised the hack- les of many political observers. Will all this money 'invested' in the film industry give an ade- quate return or is this spending extravaganza just an ego trip of the current Film Commission- er? In all probability, it is a bit of both. The Film Commissioner's re- sponsibility falls under the re- mit of the Ministry for Tourism, Clayton Bartolo. It is interesting to note that the idea that the job of attracting films to be shot in Malta is a 'touristic' activity was first adopted by a PN administra- tion. Today it does not make any sense, but old habits die hard. It was Minister Bartolo who gave the go-ahead to the current Film Commissioner to spend millions on the Mediterrane Film Festival that actually promoted foreign productions and included a lavish dinner party (plus trip to Malta and hotel stay for foreign guests) paid for by public funds. The benefits of Malta being used as a film location is not something that Joseph Muscat's Labour discovered. Rather, the current Labour government tried to make Malta more attractive for such ventures. Blockbusters such as Gladiator were filmed in Malta before La- bour's current era in power. Ob- viously, not everything was wrong then. However, Malta's use as a film location was considered to be unpredictable: just a minor flickering star in our economic universe. It is only now that it is being promoted as a newly dis- covered bright sun around which so many planets revolve! In days gone by when films were being shot in Malta, apart from Maltese extras, many trades- men plied their trade and earned money from it. These included carpenters, metalworkers, mod- ellers, seamstresses, drivers and even some minor actors. Such people are needed when a film is being shot in Malta and whenev- er there was a demand for their services, they were available... and this system did not depend on - or need - people being at- tracted by billboards advertising the film 'industry'! There is nothing wrong in pur- suing the dream of such people being permanently employed full-time in the film 'industry' but it seems to me that the current approach seems to be putting the cart before the horse. I reckon that the promise of permanent jobs in film props is premature. But then I might be wrong. The husband of a relative of mine - now sadly departed - managed to appear as an extra in many films. I cannot see Gladi- ator without seeing him in the crowd - for me a good opportuni- ty to remember him. He did it as a part-time amateur more than as a means of making a livelihood, although the extra income was certainly appreciated. It is actually impossible for an- yone to work out whether this splurging of public funds is a good investment or not. People who were invited might recall Malta when they are searching for a foreign filming location... or might not recall enough positive aspects on Malta to bother even considering it. Will the number of substan- tial films shot in Malta increase enough to justify this 'invest- ment'? In other words whether the bait is more expensive than the fish that it will catch is a question that can only be answered in the future. In my opinion the Film Com- missioner is overshooting blind- ly. Whatever anyone says, Malta will never become Holywood. Woolly-mammoth Burgers Paleo is a Belgian startup that creates synthetic proteins for the artificial-meat business. Accord- ing to The Economist, Hermes Sanctorum, the company's CEO, is keen to expand the business into making woolly-mammoth burgers. Working with the Centre for Palaeogenetics in Sweden, the firm has obtained fragments of DNA from mammoth teeth found in the Siberian perma- frost that are up to 1.2 million years old. These fragments were combined with DNA from Asian and African elephants, the mam- moth's nearest living relatives, to reconstruct what the firm hopes is the mammoth version of the gene that encodes myoglobin, a protein that helps give meat its rich taste and vibrant red col- our. Myoglobin is a protein that is found in muscles such as those attached to bones and tendons, as well as heart muscles amongst others. Its main function is to supply oxygen to the cells in these muscles. That gene was inserted into the DNA of yeast, which duly began turning out mammoth myoglo- bin. The protein was mixed with binders such as potato starch, oil, salt and other flavours so that it resembled the taste and texture of a burger. Paleo's patent claims the myo- globin causes a range of chemical reactions between other ingre- dients in the burger, producing flavours that are obtainable in no other way. Mr Sanctorum, for his part, says mammoth burgers taste "more intense" than beef. The firm hints its mammoth meat will soon be publicly avail- able. Paleo is not the only company exploring mammoth meat. Vow, an Australian company, says it has made a volleyball-sized lump of the stuff by injecting engi- neered mammoth myoglobin in- to lab-grown stem cells derived from sheep. Man's messing about with na- ture seems to be an eternal pur- suit. 7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 JULY 2023 OPINION Malta's film 'industry' Michael Falzon micfal45@gmail.com Mediterrane Film Festival has raised the hackles of many political observers