LUZZU

A hardworking Maltese fisherman, Jesmark, is faced with an agonizing choice. He can repair his leaky luzzu – a traditional, multicolored wooden fishing boat – in the hopes of eking out a meager living at sea for his wife and newborn son, just as his father and father’s father did before him. Or he could cast his lot with a sinister black-market operation that is decimating the Mediterranean fish population and the livelihoods of the local families who depend on it.

Luzzu heralds the arrival of writer-director-editor Alex Camilleri, a gripping storyteller in the neorealist tradition of early Luchino Visconti and the Dardenne brothers and and calls to mind the work of the film’s producer Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart, The White Tiger). Nonporofessional actor Jesmark Scicluna, a real-life Maltese fisherman, won an award at Sundance for his extraordinary performance.

Malta / 95 min / in Maltese with subtitles