Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/546399
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 JULY 2015
This Week
41
Colin Firth's latest film begins
shooting in Malta
A new feature film based on the
true story of amateur sailor Don-
ald Crowhurst and his attempt to
win the first Golden Globe around
the world yacht race in 1968 will
be filmed in Malta, the Malta Film
Commission announced.
Academy Award and Golden
Globe-winner Colin Firth (Kings-
man: The Secret Service, The
King's Speech, A Single Man),
starring as Donald Crowhurst, is
in Malta this week to film scenes
for the movie.
The stellar support cast includes
Academy Award and Golden
Globe Award-winner Rachel
Weisz (The Constant Gardener,
The Bourne Legacy, The Deep
Blue Sea) as his wife Clare Crow-
hurst. The visit marks Weisz's
second professional visit to the
island, as the actress had starred
as the titular heroine in the Mal-
ta-filmed 2009 historical drama
Agora.
The film is being directed
by the award-winning direc-
tor James Marsh (The The-
ory of Everything, Man on
Wire) and is being produced
by Studio Canal, Blueprint
Pictures and BBC Films.
Tourism Minister Edward
Zammit Lewis said this was
the fifth major production
to film in Malta this year
and 2015 is expected to be
a record-breaking year for
the film industry. Filming
in Malta is taking place at a
number of locations, includ-
ing the water tanks at the
Film Studios in Kalkara.
Since the government take-
over of the studios in Kalka-
ra, significant measures have
been taken to improve the
water tank facilities making
them more appealing to film
productions, the Film Com-
mission said.
NO matter how many times you
have been to Għar Dalam, it is un-
likely that you have ever visited it
under a full moon. Heritage Malta
will be holding an event, which in
itself is a one-off opportunity to
experience Għar Dalam and its
surroundings at night.
The event will be held on July 31
at 19:00 and will feature presenta-
tions by John J. Borg, Senior Cu-
rator of Natural History and Paul
Portelli, site executive of Għar
Dalam, as well as a moonlight
tour of the site and cave followed
by a light meal.
Għar Dalam's relevance as a
prehistoric site was discovered in
the latter half of the 19th century
with a series of excavations un-
earthing animal bones as well as
human remains and artifacts. The
cave is a highly important site for
its palaeontology, archaeology
and ecology.
The history of the cave and that
of the Islands can be decoded
from Għar Dalam's stratigraphy.
The lowermost layers, more than
500,000 years old, contained the
fossil bones of dwarf elephants,
hippopotami, micro-mammals
and birds among other species.
This layer is topped by a pebble
layer, and on top of it there is the
so-called 'deer' layer, dated to
around 18,000 years ago.
The top layer, or 'cultural layer',
dates less than 10,000 years and
holds evidence of the first humans
on the Island. It was here that the
earliest evidence of human settle-
ment on Malta, some 7,400 years
ago, was discovered.
The site consists of a cave, a
Victorian style exhibition and a
didactic display as well as a gar-
den planted with indigenous
plants and trees.
Tickets at €20 for Adults €18
for seniors, students and Herit-
age Malta members and €12 for
children under 12 years of age
are available from all Heritage
Malta sites and museums and
online from http://shop.heritage-
malta.org. For more information
one may call on 21657419 or
follow Heritage Malta's official
Facebook page
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