Artwork title, Artist name, YYYY

Screen Support Scheme Strand 1 to 5

Invalid deadline format: April 14, 2026 12:00 pm

Deadline

The deadline to apply is April 14, 2026 at

12:00 pm.

Late applications will not be accepted.


The aim of the Screen Support Scheme – Pre-Production – Strand 1: Screenwriting is to support the screenwriting stage of cultural and creative audiovisual productions in Malta. This Strand provides financial support for the writing and related research of a script (or shooting outlines/treatment, in the case of documentaries) with the involvement of an experienced scriptwriter/s (or director/writer, in the case of creative documentaries). New scriptwriters may be considered on condition that they are accompanied by a script consultant (confirmed by a letter of intent (LOI)).

The aim of the Screen Support Scheme – Strand 2: Development is to support the development stage of cultural and creative audiovisual productions in Malta. This includes the writing and/or further development of the script (or treatment/shooting outlines in the case of creative documentaries), research work (including archives in case of creative documentaries), casting/selection of key creative members and all the steps (e.g. working on budget, defining the target audience and market) carried out by the team to bring the project to a stage where it can be presented to potential partners and industry players with a view to financing the project. This may therefore include participation at markets, pitching sessions and festivals but also the production of visual materials which will enhance the pitching package. The Strand will be limited to the following productions that meet the eligible cultural criteria: animation, documentaries, and fiction.

The aim of the Screen Support Scheme – Strand 3: Short Film is to support the production of short films with cultural and creative content in order to enhance the quality of audiovisual productions in Malta. The Strand will be limited to the following productions that meet the eligible cultural criteria: animation, documentaries, and fiction. The Strand provides financial support in the form of a grant to individual audiovisual professionals and independent audiovisual entities to produce quality-driven audiovisual productions and may include mentoring by a highly experienced film industry expert appointed by Arts Council Malta (“ACM”).
The scheme aims to support ambitious audiovisual creations and to encourage the production of original short films. Support can be provided to eligible applicants for their involvement in international co-productions (as majority or minority partners) as long as the application is submitted by the eligible applicant and a co-production agreement is in place (according to industry standards). Projects must display artistic and/or technical co-operation between the co-production partners.

The aim of the Screen Support Scheme – Strand 4: Production (feature-length) is to support the production stage of cultural and creative audiovisual productions in Malta. This Strand will be open to the following productions that meet the eligible cultural criteria: fiction, documentary, and animation.
This Strand provides financial support in the form of a grant to independent audiovisual entities to produce quality-driven audiovisual productions and may include mentoring by a highly experienced film industry expert appointed by Arts Council Malta (“ACM”). The scheme aims to support ambitious audiovisual creations and to encourage the production of original projects. Support can be provided to eligible applicants for their involvement in international co-productions (as majority or minority partners) as long as the application is submitted by the eligible applicant and a co-production agreement is in place (according to industry standards). Projects must display artistic and/or technical co-operation between the co-production partners.

The aim of the Screen Support Scheme – Strand 5: Cultural Programmes is to incentivise the production of difficult audiovisual works with cultural and creative content, on private broadcasting stations, in order to enhance the quality of audiovisual productions in Malta on arts and culture. The Strand will be limited to the production of cultural programmes. The Strand targets eligible productions on private television stations that require investment to develop works that often lack access to private funding. The scheme provides financial support in the form of a grant to independent audiovisual entities to produce quality-driven audiovisual productions and may include mentoring by a highly experienced film industry expert appointed by Arts Council Malta (“ACM”). The Strand aims to support ambitious audiovisual creations and to encourage the production of original cultural programmes. Support can be provided to eligible applicants for their involvement in international co-productions (as majority or minority partners) as long as the application is submitted by the eligible applicant and a co-production agreement is in place (according to industry standards). Projects must display artistic and/or technical co-operation between the co-production partners.

Applicants are required to consider the Right to Culture – Resource Pack when developing their proposal in relation to how they engage with communities and the considerations of everyone’s cultural rights in their work. The resource pack is aimed at increasing awareness regarding inclusivity and supporting the implementation of cultural rights in our day-to-day practice.

Applicants are also required to consider the Charter for the Status of the Artist when proposing their operational and programming activities to ensure acceptable and decent working conditions for artists and creative practitioners which embraces artistic freedom, accessibility, formal/informal/non-formal skill recognition, decent socio-economic conditions, non-discrimination and equity, ethical considerations and adherence to intellectual property rights and international labour law. The Charter for the Status of the Artist is meant to provide a dynamic frame of reference for any legislation, policy, or initiative which directly or indirectly impacts artists and cultural and creative sectors, ensuring that any action is aligned with the ultimate long-term vision of elevating the status of artists in Malta in line with their tangible value to society.

The Screen Support Scheme is open to:

  • Independent audiovisual entities that are legally registered in Malta; and
  • Individual audiovisual professionals who are Maltese citizens, or who hold a Maltese permanent residence permit, Maltese citizenship certificate, or Maltese passport.

All applicants must be actively engaged in audiovisual production. For detailed information, please refer to the official Guidelines & Regulations of the Scheme’s respective six (6) Strands.

Click here to download guidelines (Strand 1-5) and download application template for Strand 1: ScriptwritingStrand 2: DevelopmentStrand 3: Short FilmStrand 4: Production feature lenght and Strand 5: Cultural Programmes.

Applications deadline: 14th April 2026

Rank Order Strand 1

Beneficiary: PCP LTD

Reference number: SSS47-26-8762

Project Title: SOVEREIGN

Amount awarded: €22,800

When a hijacked airliner is forced onto Maltese soil, the island’s idealistic Prime Minister — trapped in the control tower as events spiral beyond anyone’s expectations — must navigate an impossible crisis alone: desperate to save ninety-eight lives, yet bound by the fragile sovereignty on which his small nation’s very survival depends.

 

 

Beneficiary: Martin Bonnici

Reference number: SSS13-26-8198

Project Title: L-iblaħ

Amount awarded: €24,518

‘L-iblaħ’ is a political satire set in contemporary Malta. It follows the leader of the opposition, set to win the general election by a landslide and the turmoil he causes when he suffers a debilitating accident a few days before the election. The story deals with loss of identity, rediscovery of ones self and passions, and the pressure of society on our principles. The writing process brings together an experienced Producer/Director and two up and coming writers that together will prepare the project for co-development opportunities.

 

 

Beneficiary: Francesca Zammit

Reference number: SSS28-26-8498

Project Title: il-Majjistra

Amount awarded: €25,000

Il-Majjistra follows Brigid, a beloved midwife in a 1970s Maltese village, whose life is upended when she is accused of witchcraft after secretly performing an abortion for the mayor’s daughter, launching the village into a crusade between the god-less community of prostitutes, cross dressers and queer friends who want to protect Brigid, and the god fearing villagers, who want to protect themselves. This quickly spirals into theatrics, drawing in the Church and transforming Brigid’s fate from witch to saint.

Writer-director Francesca Zammit will undertake a period of research and community engagement, collaborating with elderly, queer and feminist communities in Malta to shape the screenplay. Development includes a script consultancy with Françoise von Roy and participation in the Script Circle in Berlin. The completed script will be submitted to major industry platforms, including IFFR, Berlinale, and the Marché du Film (2028), to gain feedback, build international partnerships, and secure co-production opportunities.

 

 

Beneficiary: Take//Two

Reference number: SSS54-26-8822

Project Title: V for Valletta

Amount awarded: €25,000

V for Valletta is a 90-minute mockumentary feature set in Malta, following Horace Valletta – millionaire contractor, self-declared philanthropist, and the most misunderstood man on the island – as he builds a controversial five-star resort over one of Gozo’s last unspoiled bays. To clean up his image, he commissions a feel-good documentary about his work in the community. But what begins as a vanity project spirals into something nobody planned for: a construction site cover-up, a family betrayal, and a discovery so strange it puts Malta on CNN for all the wrong reasons. V for Valletta is a darkly comic portrait of ego, progress, and the things we’re willing to bury to keep both going.

Beneficiary: Mark Doneo

Reference number: SSS06-26-8088

Project Title: Whatever Happened to Charlie Sommer?

Amount awarded: €23,970

After moving to a rural Maltese town harbouring a terrible secret, Millie, a grieving twelve-year-old girl, befriends the ghost of a boy who disappeared twenty years earlier. As she searches for the truth of his absence, she uncovers buried cultural crimes, inherited silences, and a devastating truth that will finally allow both the living and the dead to let go.

Beneficiary: Bruce Micallef Eynaud

Reference number: SSS58-26-8835

Project Title: Holy Moly

Amount awarded: €24,000

LOGLINE: When the Pope issues a surprising new decree allowing Roman Catholic priests to marry, two middle-aged Maltese priests—one an introverted traditionalist, the other an impulsive man-child—embark on a journey to find love and reconnect with a long-lost ex-girlfriend.

DESCRIPTION: Holy Moly is a heartwarming comedy-drama about regret, second chances, and finding love late in life, featuring a hilariously mismatched pair of characters at its center. The project is inspired by the humanistic, character-driven work of Alexander Payne, specifically Sideways and The Holdovers.

Rank Order Strand 2

Beneficiary: Solari Productions Limited
Reference Number: SSS36-26-8880
Project Title: Holy Days
Amount Awarded: €42,464
Summary: A tale of impossible dreams set during the fervor of Easter week.

Beneficiary: SharpShootMedia
Reference Number: SSS09-26-8322
Project Title: Pjazza Kostanza
Amount Awarded: €42,054
Summary: When warm‑hearted interior designer Julia Borg is hired to decorate Pjazza Kostanza for Christmas, her spirited, hands‑on approach collides with the museum’s new, guarded curator, Chris. Forced to collaborate under conservation constraints and a looming Christmas lighting ceremony, their friction melts into tenderness as they work together.

Beneficiary: Take//Two
Reference Number: SSS30-26-8842
Project Title: il- Management
Amount Awarded: €50,000
Summary: Il-Management is the next TV show from the same producers of Deceduti,Limestone Cowboy and Castillo.It’s a dark comedy inspired by the psychological theory Internal Family Systems (IFS),which proposes that the mind is not a single,unified whole, but made up of distinct parts – each with its own characteristics – all attempting,for better or worse,to keep the individual safe.

The story follows Vee,a wedding planner who has spent her twenties orchestrating other people’s perfect days.On the morning after she finally gets engaged,she wakes up with a sudden certainty: she doesn’t want it anymore.

As her life begins to unravel,the story unfolds across two worlds – the external world,where she navigates work,relationships and the fallout of her choices,and her “Mindhouse,”an internal space where a chaotic cast of voices battle for control over her decisions.

So what looks like indecision from the outside is, on the inside, a full-scale war.

 

Beneficiary: Nannu Karm Productions Limited
Reference Number: SSS02-26-8069
Project Title: Karamellu tar-Rahal t’Isfel – Season 3
Amount Awarded: €50,000
Summary: Karamellu tar-Raħal t’Isfel – Season 3 continues the story of a young boy living with his parents and grandparents in ir-Raħal t’Isfel, Żejtun. Set in the 1950s, the series is a window into a bygone era, introducing its young audience to Maltese culture, traditions, and the vibrant community spirit of a Maltese village. This season, set against the backdrop of spring, places a stronger focus on the wider community, as Karamellu goes on more curious adventures, encountering a new set of townsfolk from his village and beyond.

Beneficiary: Soppa Films
Reference Number: SSS32-26-8850
Project Title: Indoqq ”il-Country” (I Play Country Music)
Amount Awarded: €30,030
Summary: Indoqq il-Country is currently in the script development phase, which will involve continued writing and refinement in close collaboration with actors, producers, and key creative partners. This process will support the deepening of the narrative, with a focus on character development, narrative arcs, and the expansion of scenes.

The script will continue to undergo multiple rewrites to strengthen its structure and thematic depth, with particular attention to crafting nuanced dialogue and layered, compelling characters.

In parallel, the project will be presented at international film festivals and industry markets. These platforms will provide opportunities to promote the project, participate in pitching sessions, and connect with potential co-producers and financiers.

The overall aim is to establish international partnerships, secure co-financing, and position Indoqq il-Country as a strong candidate for international co-production.

Beneficiary: Blind Box
Reference Number: SSS12-26-8372
Project Title: L-Avventuri ta’ L-Avukat Gawdenz
Amount Awarded: €50,000

Summary: L-Avventuri ta’ L-Avukat Gawdenz is a Maltese-language animated series that brings to life a well-meaning but overly confident lawyer and mayor in a vibrant village setting. The series blends humour with meaningful storytelling and actively promotes the right to culture by making the Maltese language, traditions, and identity accessible and engaging for young audiences.

 

Through Gawdenz’s everyday adventures, children are immersed in local heritage while learning important values such as friendship, inclusion, and respect for diversity. The integration of Maltese Sign Language and Key Word Signing enhances accessibility and ensures that communication becomes a natural part of community life.

Designed to inspire curiosity and creativity, the series empowers children to connect with their cultural roots while fostering a new generation of audiences who value and actively participate in Maltese cultural expression.

Beneficiary: Malta Production Hub Ltd

Reference Number: SSS24-26-8815
Project Title: Anchor (Dock Worker)
Amount Awarded: 49,980

Summary: After a veteran Maltese dockworker is forced into early retirement amid the looming privatization of his shipyard, he must confront his fading identity and fractured family dynamics, ultimately choosing between clinging to a dying industry or embracing a quieter, self-defined future.

 

Beneficiary: Pellikola

Reference Number: SSS27-26-8834
Project Title: True Father
Amount Awarded: 50,000

Summary: A devout second-generation believer in a messianic church leaves Malta for a gruelling missionary year across Europe, where a forbidden connection threatens to unravel everything she has been raised to believe.

 

Beneficiary: Wild Skies

Reference Number: SSS33-26-8872
Project Title: The Last Harvest
Amount Awarded: 50,000

Summary: The Last Harvest is a powerful exploration of pride, change, and legacy. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing 1963 Malta, it tells the story of Cikku a proud farmer whose defiance against internal modernisation and foreign rule transforms him from man to myth, to outlaw. As pride and grief drive him toward a fatal act of violence, he becomes the subject of a relentless manhunt across the island’s rugged countryside, forcing him to confront whether preserving his legacy is worth destroying his future. Cikku finds himself trapped between submission and self-destruction. Hunted across fields, caves, and coastal cliffs, he clings to pride and legend while the tightening manhunt forces him to confront the devastating cost of refusing to change. Like a gathering storm, we begin with the warmth of rural life and honest labour, but gradually spiral into frustration, violence, and a manhunt across the Maltese coastline.

 

Beneficiary: Roughcut Ltd

Reference Number: SSS18-26-8555
Project Title: Trazioni
Amount Awarded: 50,000

Summary: After a violent encounter tied to her past, a mysterious woman fleeing to Sicily crosses paths with a young Maltese couple en route to a destination wedding. As she inserts herself into their lives, secrets begin to surface and her carefully constructed identity begins to unravel. Survival will demand a ruthless choice.

 

Beneficiary: Mizzi Media House Ltd

Reference Number: SSS14-26-8417
Project Title: The knights archives
Amount Awarded: €49,100

Summary: This documentary series of 3 episodes explores important historical personalities and events preserved in the Archive of the Order of Saint John. Through original letters, historical documents, and expert interviews the series reveals how Malta was closely connected to major political, religious, and cultural developments across Europe. Each 30 minute episode focuses on a crucial moment in history, demonstrating how decisions taken by influential rulers impacted the Order and its presence in Malta. The project highlights the international dimension of Maltese history by presenting stories involving kings, queens, and major European events that shaped the political landscape of the time. The series aims to make archival material accessible to contemporary audiences by transforming historical documents into engaging visual narratives. By bringing these archival documents to life, the series highlights Malta’s role within broader European history and promotes awareness of the cultural value of historical archives.

 

 

 

Beneficiary: NextWave Media Ltd.

Reference Number: SSS22-26-8764
Project Title: Vendetta
Amount Awarded: 25,000

Summary: A devoted family man has spent his life avoiding the violent legacy of his relatives—a feared criminal gang. Though he chose a different path, his family respected his decision, and their bond remained strong, built on loyalty and unspoken love.

When a rival gang emerges and old tensions resurface, everything changes. In a brutal act of provocation, they kidnap his wife, dragging him into a dangerous world he has spent his life escaping.

Forced to confront his past, he must navigate betrayal, power, and fear to save the person he loves most. The rival gang, made up of imposing Maltese wrestlers, brings a physical and psychological intensity that pushes him to his limits.

As the lines between family, identity, and survival blur, he must decide who he really is—and how far he’s willing to go to protect his own.

 

Rank Order Strand 3

Beneficiary: Stephanie Galea

Reference number: SSS13-26-8548

Project Title: Bejn Tnejn u Tlieta

Amount awarded: €35,000

Bejn Tnejn u Tlieta is a short film composed of three distinct acts, each following a different woman in Malta across a village rooftop, a local bar, and a summer tombla night. Set within familiar, culturally specific spaces, the stories capture moments of interaction, repetition, and quiet tension, where humour and discomfort sit side by side as behaviour shifts under the presence of others. Spoken in Maltese and grounded in everyday life, the film draws from real conversations, lived experiences, and social dynamics embedded within the Maltese psyche. Across the three acts, the women move from participants to figures who subtly disrupt and reshape their environments, offering a culturally specific yet internationally resonant portrayal of presence, control, and the dynamics of being seen.

 

Beneficiary: Falkun Films

Reference number: SSS26-26-8840

Project Title: MAGIC

Amount awarded: €35,000

Young Harriet delves into the world of magic to escape the reality of an abusive home life, ultimately making the abuser disappear…As if by magic!

Beneficiary: Samira Damato

Reference number: SSS21-26-8775

Project Title: The Firework King

Amount awarded: €35,000

Set against the backdrop of a Maltese festa, the film follows two sisters navigating a fragile moment in adolescence. As the older becomes consumed by the pursuit of male attention, she leaves her younger sister behind, fracturing their bond. Moving between the rowdy intensity of the festa and the intimate spaces shared by the sisters, the film explores how girlhood is shaped by performance. Where the desire to be desired begins to override loyalty, and sisterhood slips into competition. At its core, the film reflects on the tension between becoming the “right kind of girl” and holding onto a sense of self.

 

Beneficiary: Micol Canova

Reference number: SSS06-26-8249

Project Title: MATCHES

Amount awarded: €35,000

Harper, a grieving 24-year-old, is given seven fleeting chances to rewrite the past and save her little brother from a fatal accident – one burning match at a time.

 

Rank Order Strand 4

Beneficiary: ARZELLA FILMS

Reference number: SSS34-26-8839

Project Title: Love Thy Neighbour

Amount awarded: €200,000

The day Beck discovers that Marianne, his rebellious companion, is ill, he finally decides to try to make her happy; he who has always considered happiness a calamity. Marianne does not shy away from the idea; on the contrary, she tells him that she wants to get married. She asks him to be her witness.

 

Beneficiary: DBA Entertainment Ltd.

Reference number: SSS22-26-8701

Project Title: Il-Kollezzjonist

Amount awarded: €450,000

Malta’s first serial killer, seeking redemption from within the walls of a mental institution, forms a dangerous bond with a former admirer who has become a monster himself, leading them both down a twisted path of obsession, manipulation, and gruesome murder.

 

Beneficiary: KukumajsaProductions Ltd

Reference number: SSS32-26-8829

Project Title: Life Stream

Amount awarded: €450,000

LIFE STREAM is an omnibus feature film, composed of six segments, led by a Maltese team and unfolding across the globe. We follow the story of a human life – spanning birth to death – via six milestones revolving around culturally specific rituals, each taking place in a different region of the world. This is a story which celebrates our common humanity – through our similarities and our differences, for better and for worse. This is also a film which does what it shows; actively bringing us together as people(s), not only on our screens, but also behind-the-scenes. At a time of increasing divide and turmoil, it is an important project to embark on.

 

Beneficiary: Falkun Films

Reference number: SSS37-26-8854

Project Title: Rih Isfel

Amount awarded: €450,000

On a remote village on the island of Gozo, high summer is shattered by the news that a boy has gone missing. In a town where nothing ever really happens, the news of a missing child unnerves even the most subdued of inhabitants. The investigation unravels through a local boy, Gianni, who is determined to find his friend and bring him home. But his search leads him to uncover a lot more than henhad wished for, as the village he thought he knew sonwell starts to reveal its deepest, darkest secrets.

Beneficiary: SharpShootMedia

Reference number: SSS31-26-8824

Project Title: The Local Traveller in Rome

Amount awarded: €103,000

Between Malta and Rome lies more than water—it is a passage of power, belief, and identity, where centuries of history continue to shape the lives of those who stand on either shore. This 8-part documentary traces the shared DNA between Malta and Rome—from the Roman Empire and early Christianity to Baroque art, the Knights of St John, and modern identity. Clare Agius as a local traveller will be transported to the hidden gems that shaped the cultural tapestry of the Mediteranean from gastronomy to architecture, art, religion, culture, fashion and the social fibre that makes up a Modern European. In each Episode Claire meets local experts in Rome. Rome has always been at the helm of major social influences and has attracted many a tourist to taste its lifestyle. Blending history with contemporary voices, the series reveals a living connection that continues to evolve.

 

Beneficiary: motion blur ltd

Reference number: SSS41-26-8871

Project Title: Waiting to Hear from Julia

Amount awarded: €347,000

During the first days of Malta’s COVID lockdown, a grief-stricken husband is forced into isolation with his estranged daughter, where buried guilt and supernatural signs blur the line between hope, rage, and reality.

Rank Order Strand 5

Beneficiary: Take//Two

Reference number: SSS03-26-8447

Project Title: Imxejna Season 2

Amount awarded: €20,000

‘IMXEJNA?’ Season 1, saw Carlos with a diverse range of guests. At its core, the series is built around long-form, open conversations, honest exchanges on life and personal experiences, unfolding while trekking through Malta’s natural landscapes. Each trek ends  at an archaeological/historical site, where we meet-up with our resident archaeologist who takes us on an informative tour of the site.

Personal stories intertwine with history, archaeology, and the environment, revealing deeper connections between people and place.

Season 2 builds on this with 8 new personalities, 8 new treks, and 8 locations, expanding further into Gozo and Comino.

Each episode blends humour, reflection, and expert insight to uncover lesser-known sites of cultural, historical, and ecological significance, while encouraging environmental awareness.

At its heart, ‘IMXEJNA?’ remains a celebration of discovery, identity, and the relationship between people and place.

Beneficiary: Roughcut Ltd.

Reference number: SSS05-26-8566

Project Title: Bombshelter Barber

Amount awarded: €20,000

A 99-year-old Maltese barber finally opens up about his wartime past, revealing how a pair of scissors and a steady hand helped keep hope alive as bombs fell on the most bombed place in the world during World War II.

Beneficiary: Pro.Motion Limited

Reference number: SSS06-26-8574

Project Title: Diċerija

Amount awarded: €20,000

Diċerija is an original 13-episode cultural series investigating local hearsay and urban legends.

The series will take our viewers on an exciting, informative and appealing ride around our Maltese islands to examine the evidence in hand on popular hearsay and urban legends that may or may not be true. We will be going through archives, interviewing historians, experts and sometimes even witnesses. Thus, the programme aims to highlight, refer to and for the very first time, research part of our history which has frequently been neglected. After all, local hearsay and urban legends are a form of modern folklore acting as a cultural artefact, whilst also reinforcing cultural identity.

Each episode will include exclusive features, images, interviews and links related to a range of different popular local hearsay and urban legends.

N.B. The Maltese word ‘Diċerija’ refers to gossip/rumour/hearsay/general talk that may or may not be true.

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