The Lighthouse International Film Society will kick off its fall 2021 season on Wednesday, October 13 at 7:00 p.m. with a screening of “Luzzu” at the LBI Foundation for Arts and Sciences, located at 120 Long Beach Blvd. in the Amoureuses.

“Luzzu “is a Maltese film, written and directed by Alex Camilleri. Some explanation is in order.

The Republic of Malta is a small country in southern Europe, located in the Mediterranean Sea near the tip of the Italian boot. A luzzu is a traditional small fishing boat from the Maltese Islands, usually painted in bright colors. Its most distinctive feature is a pair of eyes on the front believed to protect fishermen, a tradition that dates back to the ancient Phoenician culture.

The 95-minute feature film, Camilleri’s debut, debuted at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where its lead actor Jesmark Scicluna, a real Maltese fisherman making his very first film appearance, won a special award from jury for its interpretation.

Local fishermen will love this movie.

LIFS described “Luzzu” as follows: “A hardworking Maltese fisherman, Jesmark, faces an agonizing choice. He can fix his leaky luzzu – a traditional multicolored wooden fishing boat – in hopes of making a meager living at sea for his wife and newborn baby, just like his father and grandfather did. before him. Or he can downgrade it in exchange for a payment from the EU (European Union) and cast his spell with a sinister black market operation that decimates the Mediterranean fish population and the livelihoods of the local families who depend on it. .

But a review from Jordan Mintzer for Hollywood journalist went further in explaining Jesmark’s dilemma: “Jesmark must make ends meet in a profession that appears to be on the brink of extinction, with EU directives limiting the type of fish that can be caught each season and giant trawlers scooping up much of the catch, leaving nothing but crumbs for guys like Jesmark who work alone.

Jesmark juggles a lot of issues.

“At the start of the film, “writes Mintzer,” his boat breaks down; … Her newborn baby is not growing fast enough, causing the baby’s mother to move in with her parents so that she can afford proper medical care; and whatever fish Jesmark catches, it is undersold at a wholesale market by a new boss, who appears to be trading illegal products next door.

Mintzer targets the EU in its review.

“Yet of all the factors threatening Jesmark’s livelihoods, the European Union is proving to be the most problematic, with its draconian laws ignoring the plight of independent fishermen trying to fend for their own land.

Tickets for the screening cost $ 10 at the door or $ 8 if purchased online at lighthousefilmfestival.org. The screening is free for LIFS members; tickets will be reduced to $ 5 for members of ReClam the Bay, the New Jersey Maritime Museum and the Foundation, all sponsors of the screening. —RM