Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/451763
VI This Week maltatoday, Sunday, 25 January 2015 The Valletta 2018 Foundation has opened a call for experienced and emerging screenwriters, producers, directors and editors who will receive training in developing feature film or television drama projects intended for production next year and in 2017. The course focuses on the film industry while seeking to instil screenwriting skills into a genera- tion of professionals through project development. It will be split into two modules with the first conducted in tuition-based group sessions. This will run from 14 to 20 March 2015. Individual sessions by Skype make up the second module, taking place in August/Sept 2015. Eight writers and eight creative collaborators will be selected for this programme. Applications are invited from writers with outlines for feature- length projects and creative collabora- tors (producers, directors or editors) who will work on the writers' projects. All producers', directors' and edi- tors' applications will be considered on the basis of previous experience. Writers and creative collaborators who took part in the first and second editions of Storyworks are also invited to apply. Storyworks is designed for projects which are ready for intensive develop- ment. The aim is to develop the skills of the creative team and guide each project to its fullest potential. Ideas will be developed to a structured and honed first draft (or strong outline), giving them the best chance of attracting finance and ultimately, reaching as wide an audience as possible. Through exploration of the team's vision for the finished product, this course seeks to develop screen- plays into well-realised, focused, and professionally presented scripts. This is the third edition of Story- works and is designed on the Valletta 2018 Foundation's objective to build a generation of artists and individu- als servicing the creative industry by 2018. The effective climate of col- laboration between public cultural organisations is resulting in strategic investment in cultural infrastructure and capacity building which are es- sential to develop and promote the Valletta 2018 Cultural Programme. Besides Storyworks, Valletta 2018 runs Technical Skills courses, the Curatorial School and the Curators in Residence Programme as well as a number of projects in schools. The programme is organised by the Valletta 2018 Foundation in collabora- tion with St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity and the Malta Film Commission. Storyworks will be led by David Howard from the University of South- ern California and Story Consultant Mary Kate O'Flanagan, whose careers have led them to work with industry professionals worldwide. The programme fee is €200 for writers who participate with their proposed scripts, €150 for producers who collaborate on a writer's script and €300 for writer and producer who apply as a pair. Applications are to be downloaded from: www.valletta2018. org and sent to events@valletta2018. org by February 16 at 17:00. Success- ful applicants will be informed by February 23. Enquiries may be made to: info@val- letta2018.org or by calling 2124 2018 Plucky literary heroine travels from Italy to Malta At the age of twelve or so – even younger, at times – children stop identifying them- selves as children and began their search for their own identity, somewhere between childhood and adulthood. This is evident in everything they do, say, wear… and read. Teenagers' reading material tends to be dramatically different to children's books, and also to a certain extent differ- ent to adult books. Young adult literature – or teenage lit- erature as it is also called – usually refers to a certain kind of literature that doesn't treat its readers as young children, but speaks frankly about life and growing up. It also at times tackles thorny subjects that children might have been shielded from until then. At the same time, young adult literature understands and acknowledges that teenagers are still not adults and therefore is cautious and responsible in its tackling of difficult subject matter. Maltese literature is fast growing its range of young adult literature, and one of its most recent additions is Kważi kważi lil Tamara nżommuha, a novel originally written in Italian by Georgia Manzi, and adapted into Maltese by award-winning author Simon Bartolo. Published by Merlin Publishers, this nov- el tells the story of Lilli, an Italian teenager who together with her parents has to move from Italy to Athens, Greece, when her dad gets a job there. Set in the midst of the economic meltdown in Greece a few years back, Lilli tries to settle into her new life and befriends a guy whom she eventually falls for. Then, suddenly, her family is faced with very serious problems, problems that turn Lilli's life upside down and put into ques- tion everything she's ever believed and lived for. Lilli has no other option but to plan her escape from the sadness that her home has become. But in that home, there is also Tamara – their Romanian maid and housekeeper – a woman with a heart of gold who isn't treated too well by the family. Over time, and as events unfold, Lilli begins to slowly understand what a rock Tamara is to her amidst all the turmoil. The novel's translator, Simon Bartolo, is one of Malta's best-loved author of chil- dren's and young adult literature. He wrote the young adult novel Deformity and other novels. And, together with Loranne Vella, he penned the bestselling classic trilogy Il-Fiddien. Kważi kważi lil Tamara nżommuha is available from all bookshops, or online directly from www.merlinpublishers.com V18 launches new edition of screen-writing course for emerging professionals What is the true price of freedom? Valletta 2018 Foundation calls for all interested in film and TV development for a screenwriting course in March The third edition of Storyworks will be taking place in March. Photo by Jonathan Borg Sensiela Kotba Soċjalisti will be organising a talk by Mark Camilleri at the Labour Party Headquarters on February 6 at 18:30. Camilleri, the author of Ħelsien, il-mixja lejn il-31 ta' Marzu tal-1979, will be discussing his book at the Labour Party Headquarters in Ħamrun. Camilleri's book deals with the Malta Labour Party's fight for 'freedom' and its celebration on every March 31, commemorating the departure of the last British naval ship from Malta in 1979. But what did this 'freedom' stand for exactly and what did it incur? The MLP's struggle in the 60s and 70s was a socialist struggle: a struggle for political freedom and the Maltese way of life and standard of living. It was a struggle to be car- ried out holistically, both in foreign politics as well as on local economic ground – and in both cases, the MLP used to follow an ideology similar to that championed by other newly- independent countries around the world. The book is researched from archives and documents that are relatively new to the field of study, amongst which are new British and texts from the USA, local govern- ment documents as well as internal MLP documentation. The book will be for sale during the event. The discussion will be followed by a reception.