The discussion about the threats being faced by the creative industries, particularly through the growing use of AI and deep fake technology, has been raging for a while now. While unveiling a completely new realm of opportunity, the generally uncharted frontiers of technology offer some serious implications about personal rights, authorship and artistic ownership.
It is a conversation that is happening internationally, across film festivals, policy fora and industry bodies, precisely because it touches the very foundations of creative work, intellectual property rights, identity, and consent.
Malta, as a country that has over the decades invested so heavily in positioning itself as a film destination, should not be on the margins of this conversation.
Yet while the global film industry is grappling with how to regulate AI, protect performers, and safeguard creative integrity, our local conversation keeps getting hogged by matters that shouldn't be in the news at all.
The most recent news regarding travel expenditure by Film Commissioner Johann Grech has once again raised uncomfortable questions about accountability and the way things are being run in the office he leads. Naturally, I am not saying that investment in promotion is wrong in itself, far from it. However, unfortunately it increasingly feels detached from any broader strategic vision for where Malta's film industry is heading and what challenges it actually faces.
This is not the first time Mr Grech is being asked to substantiate serious expenditure by his Film Commission. We all know how the Mediterranee Film Festival was a wall-to-wall money-no-problem extravaganza and selfie-fest, around which little to no accountability was forthcoming.
No one disputes that the film sector needs support, which in many cases is obtained through visibility and international reach. However, investment must be intelligent, measured and aligned with outcomes that genuinely strengthen the industry's ecosystem. When spending appears excessive or poorly justified, it erodes trust, not only among taxpayers, but also within the very industry it is meant to serve.
More seriously, it crowds out space for far more urgent conversations. AI technology is no longer theoretical, as anyone with a smart phone can attest. Commercially and in the film industry particularly, it is being used widely to replicate faces, voices and performances. Internationally, unions, producers and regulators are racing to establish frameworks that protect artists, film makers and crafts persons to ensure that innovation does not come at the cost of exploitation.
How is Malta preparing for this new reality? How is the Film Commission engaging meaningfully with the operators and creatives of the industry to truly understand what the threat holds, and how to be prepared for it? What will the film servicing industry look like in 2036? Will Malta's facilities be obsolete, or are we making the right policy and structural interventions to be ready for this brave new world?
I note with satisfaction Malta's membership in Eurimages the Council of Europe's film support fund through the Malta Arts Council. As I have said in the past, we must strive to give our creatives all the resources in the world, to enter collaborative ventures and co-production opportunities, so such a development is welcome.
Malta has talented filmmakers, experienced crews and a beautiful pool of creative professionals who deserve accountable and visionary leadership. They deserve a commission that is as concerned with protecting their rights and futures as it is with selling Malta abroad.
If we want Malta to remain relevant and respected in the global film industry, we must move beyond spectacle and start taking governance, ethics and long-term sustainability seriously.
Julie Zahra is Shadow Minister for Culture and Creative Economy
It is a conversation that is happening internationally, across film festivals, policy fora and industry bodies, precisely because it touches the very foundations of creative work, intellectual property rights, identity, and consent.
Malta, as a country that has over the decades invested so heavily in positioning itself as a film destination, should not be on the margins of this conversation.
Yet while the global film industry is grappling with how to regulate AI, protect performers, and safeguard creative integrity, our local conversation keeps getting hogged by matters that shouldn't be in the news at all.
The most recent news regarding travel expenditure by Film Commissioner Johann Grech has once again raised uncomfortable questions about accountability and the way things are being run in the office he leads. Naturally, I am not saying that investment in promotion is wrong in itself, far from it. However, unfortunately it increasingly feels detached from any broader strategic vision for where Malta's film industry is heading and what challenges it actually faces.
This is not the first time Mr Grech is being asked to substantiate serious expenditure by his Film Commission. We all know how the Mediterranee Film Festival was a wall-to-wall money-no-problem extravaganza and selfie-fest, around which little to no accountability was forthcoming.
No one disputes that the film sector needs support, which in many cases is obtained through visibility and international reach. However, investment must be intelligent, measured and aligned with outcomes that genuinely strengthen the industry's ecosystem. When spending appears excessive or poorly justified, it erodes trust, not only among taxpayers, but also within the very industry it is meant to serve.
More seriously, it crowds out space for far more urgent conversations. AI technology is no longer theoretical, as anyone with a smart phone can attest. Commercially and in the film industry particularly, it is being used widely to replicate faces, voices and performances. Internationally, unions, producers and regulators are racing to establish frameworks that protect artists, film makers and crafts persons to ensure that innovation does not come at the cost of exploitation.
How is Malta preparing for this new reality? How is the Film Commission engaging meaningfully with the operators and creatives of the industry to truly understand what the threat holds, and how to be prepared for it? What will the film servicing industry look like in 2036? Will Malta's facilities be obsolete, or are we making the right policy and structural interventions to be ready for this brave new world?
I note with satisfaction Malta's membership in Eurimages the Council of Europe's film support fund through the Malta Arts Council. As I have said in the past, we must strive to give our creatives all the resources in the world, to enter collaborative ventures and co-production opportunities, so such a development is welcome.
Malta has talented filmmakers, experienced crews and a beautiful pool of creative professionals who deserve accountable and visionary leadership. They deserve a commission that is as concerned with protecting their rights and futures as it is with selling Malta abroad.
If we want Malta to remain relevant and respected in the global film industry, we must move beyond spectacle and start taking governance, ethics and long-term sustainability seriously.
Julie Zahra is Shadow Minister for Culture and Creative Economy