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12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 JUNE 2025 NEWS Josh Gad among Hollywood guests at 2025 Mediterrane Film Festival JOSH Gad, known for voicing Olaf in Frozen and playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in The Book of Mormon, will be one of the Hollywood guests in attendance at the Mediterrane Film Festival this week. Gad will join filmmakers, in- dustry figures and audiences for the third edition of the festival, which takes place between 21 and 29 June. Now in its third year, the festival will feature over 40 films from more than 20 countries, with a programme that includes 10 Main Competition titles, 12 Out of Competition screenings, and six environmental-themed films under the Mare Nostrum banner. Among the Main Competi- tion highlights is The Return by Uberto Pasolini, reuniting Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche in a reimagining of Homer's Odyssey; Hot Milk, the directorial debut of Rebecca Lenkiewicz; and The Theft of the Caravaggio, a new thriller from Maltese director Joshua Cassar Gaspar imagining the disappearance of a priceless painting from Valletta's St John's Co-Cathedral. Other films competing include Harvest by Athina Rachel Tsan- gari, Fiume o Morte! by Croatia's Igor Bezinović, and The Wound, winner of Best Debut Feature at the Athens International Art Film Festival. Out-of-competition titles in- clude Peter Hujar's Day starring Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall, Neil Marshall's Malta-set erot- ic thriller Compulsion, and Four Letters of Love fea- turing Pierce Bro- snan and Helena Bonham Cart- er. There are also a cou- ple of quirky entries like Time Travel is Dan- gerous—a comedy set in a vintage clothing shop—and About a He- ro, featuring an AI-generated ver- sion of Werner Herzog solving a murder mystery. The festival will also screen Gloria!, an 18th-century musical drama by Italian singer Margh- erita Vicario, and Love and Glo- ry—The Long Deledda, about the life of Nobel Prize-winning author Grazia Deledda. Meanwhile, the Mare Nostrum strand will spotlight stories about the climate crisis, including the Louisiana-set doc- u m e n t a r y Lowland K i d s , Only on E a r t h , which explores wildfire-stricken Galicia, and the animated Black Butterflies. This year's Golden Bee Awards jury includes Oscar-winning pro- duction designer Rick Carter, Twilight director Catherine Hard- wicke, and Maltese filmmaker Mario Philip Azzopardi. Festival-goers can also attend in- dustry masterclasses by top names like Joe Carnahan, Amazon Studi- os' Glenn Gainor, and The Last Emperor producer Jeremy Thom- as. Sessions will be held at the dra- matic 400-year-old Fort Ricasoli. Led by festival director Ray Calle- ja and curator Mark Adams, the Mediterrane Film Festival aims to foster creative exchange across the Mediterranean region and be- yond. "We stand for opportunity, collaboration and creativity," Film Commissioner Johann Grech said. "This festival is about turning bold ideas into reality." NICOLE MEILAK nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt Josh Gad Industry masterclasses during the Mediterrane Film Festival include sessions with directors Joe Carnahan and Catherine Hardwicke