Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544987
31 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 MAY 2026 FEATURE portrait of modern Malta sensitive to changes locals may no longer notice, shapes the film's perspective throughout. Sant says that although the film contains documentary elements, he "didn't sort of set out to make a documentary film". Instead, Dimitrios allowed him to explore these ideas through fiction while still grounding the story in real environments and observations, without tight- ly controlling what happened around, using non-actors, and allowing everyday life to unfold naturally within scenes. Many of the actors spoke in their native languages without interpreters, and dialogue was often improvised."There was an idea and a notion," Sant says, "and then it was up to them to take it on their own." Scripts were translated into multiple languages and then back into English for subtitles, reducing the director's control over the final text. "It gives me less authorship," he says. "I think that doing it in that way obviously lends a sort of documentary element, but it al- so lends the film, I hoped, a cer- tain vibrancy. And a life that you just couldn't get from over-or- chestrating or over-managing." Sant says this approach also helped avoid the heavily con- trolled style he associates with many mainstream productions. The production was minimal, with a cast and crew of around 10 people. "We could all jump into two cars and go to the next location," he muses, adding that working with a small crew creat- ed a more intimate environment during filming. That restraint feels inseparable from Żafżifa's wider concerns, as the film searches for intimacy, imperfection and uncertainty. Żafżifa is currently showing at the Embassy Cinemas in Vallet- ta, Eden Cinemas in St Julian's and Citadel Cinemas in Gozo.