Discover Malta and its cinema stories

Did you know ? Malta is located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea and its 7,000 years of history allow it to easily recreate settings that could evoke the Middle Ages, Antiquity or cities of the Middle and Far East. Located a 2h45 flight from Paris, in the European Union, the Malta archipelago has three UNESCO World Heritage sites and was designated European Capital of Culture in 2018. As you can see, the History and cinema goes very well together!

The first Maltese filming

It was in 1925 that Malta received a film crew for the first time, with the silent film Sons of the sea, by H. Bruce Woolfe, for the rescue of a young lady from sea bandits. Since then, many productions have continued filming on location, offering magnificent landscapes, very often mild weather, and lower production costs than in Spain or North Africa. If the Malta Film Studios are reserved for professionals, passing film buffs can take full advantage of the many open-air filming locations in the archipelago: in Valletta, Mdina or on the island of Gozo, movie tours are even offered to the most passionate!

The complete list of films shot in Malta is very long: in fact there are no less than 200 films since 1925. Among them, the blockbusters Jurassic World 3: The World After by Colin Trevorrow, Asterix and Obelix Mission Cleopatra by Alain Chabat or even Da Vinci Codeand by Ron Howard.

Place of culture, location of filming

The capital of Malta, Valletta, is an open-air filming site given its ancient architecture: we find settings of small alleys, knights’ inns or ramparts overlooking the sea. We also recognize Fort Manoel in the opening scene of the adaptation of Crime on the Orient Express by Kenneth Branagh, as well as the use of a Maltese wall to represent the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Cult place or place of worship, since it is also Jerusalem which is represented in Brad Pitt’s zombie film: World War Z by Marc Forster. The superstar is also accustomed to this city, since we find Pitt in the film Troy by Wolfgang Petersen, where he played the famous Achilles.

Soon, we will be able to discover Fort Ricasoli in the cinema, which faces Valletta, in the film Napoleon by Ridley Scott. Scott was also able to shoot Gladiator in this same fort to represent the Colosseum in Rome (among others) with the help of a little digital technology, obviously. In Napoleon, Fort Ricasoli was transformed into Toulon, city of Bonaparte’s first victory in 1793; and Mdina, the former Maltese capital, represents Paris, with multiple French flags and shops set up for the occasion.

The kingdom of the small screen

If Malta greatly attracts feature films, the series, which have been very popular for more than 10 years, have also been able to use the Maltese archipelago to represent majestic and exotic landscapes. We were talking about Mdina, the medieval city is also the place where many scenes from Game Of Thrones : notably embodying Port Réal (King’s Landing), where Ned Stark (Sean Bean) was executed.

Dwejra Bay located on the island of Gozo was the location of the wedding between Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo. A marriage between History and image which still remains in everyone’s memory.

And more recently, it’s the series Foundation which features Maltese settings, with the use of special effects associated with the real settings of Fort Manoel.

An invitation to travel?

The many sites mentioned above can be visited, allowing you to dive back into your favorite stories by following the route actually taken by your favorite stars! The cities of Valletta, Mdina, or even the island of Gozo will welcome you and help you make your stay a new page in your personal history.