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WEDNESDAY • 10 JULY 2024 • ISSUE 902 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY
EDITORIAL • PAGE 11
KURT
SANSONE
ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt
MATTHEW
FARRUGIA
mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt
MALTESE artists feel "overlooked and un-
der-appreciated by the Malta Film Commission,
according to the president of the Malta Enter-
tainment Industry and Arts Association.
Maria Galea told MaltaToday that while the Film
Commission's role to import foreign productions
is crucial, how it treats domestic and foreign pro-
ducers is far from equal.
Galea compared the Maltese film industry with
that in Iceland, which has a population smaller
than Malta's. She noted that in Iceland, the gov-
ernment makes a great effort to export local pro-
ductions.
Maltese artists and producers are up in arms
after the Film Commission commissioned a
10-minute film showcasing Malta to foreign pro-
ducers, which according to conservative estimates
cost some €500,000.
PAGE 3
Maltese artists
lament unequal
treatment at
hands of Malta
Film Commission
Speaker asks police to provide
Chris Fearne with protection after
Steward-funded smear campaign
SPEAKER Anglu Farrugia
has asked the Police Com-
missioner to provide Chris
Fearne with the necessary
protection in the wake of
the smear campaign fi-
nanced by Steward Health
Care.
In a ruling that was
greeted with applause,
Farrugia also instructed
the foreign ministry to
raise the issue with the
US embassy given that
Steward is an American
company.
Fearne had asked for
parliament's protection
on Monday in the wake
of a journalistic inves-
tigation that uncovered
how Steward had con-
tracted private investiga-
tors to dig up dirt on the
former minister.
Steward ran three pub-
lic hospitals in Malta
granted on concession
by the Maltese govern-
ment. The contract was
annulled last year by
the court and following
a magisterial inquiry,
several individuals have
been charged with cor-
ruption, fraud and money
laundering.
PAGE 3
Speaker accedes
to Chris Fearne's
request for
protection in wake
of revelations that
Steward funded a
smear campaign
against the former
health minister
Chris Fearne
Maria Galea, president Malta Entertainment Industry and
Arts Association
