CHRONICLES OF A CRONYIST COUNTRY — 2
Or the curious case of the Maltese movie ‘Blood on the Crown.’
CRONYISM, CRONYISM EVERYWHERE
I want to be clear about something from the outset. I’ve had the honor, pleasure and privilege to have worked with many a Maltese artist, actor, creator. This post is not directed at them, or at various individuals within the structure of cultural entities, who work tirelessly for the benefit of Malta’s artistic community. I commend them wholeheartedly for their grit and resilience in continuing to provide the best work possible, even in the face of either sheer incompetence or blatant favoritism.
This is squarely targeting the decision-makers — more like puppets getting their strings pulled at this point — who, almost on a whim, forego any due process to “secure” financing and funding, awarding hefty budgets to projects, solely on the basis of being well-connected to some higher-up. If you’re an outspoken artist who won’t bend at any compromise, or have for years applied to get your project funded only to get rejected for unclear or silly reasons time and time again, well, tough shit. It’s the competition, stupid.
To anyone who still protests “But this happens abroad as well, not just Malta!”… No offence, I honestly can’t give a fuck anymore. When you consider the size of artistic communities abroad to the one in Malta, that is a puerile justification for the state of culture in Malta. Abroad, the community is large enough to be able to sustain itself, despite extremely challenging times of crisis — be it a global pandemic, budget cuts or being forced to re-train (here’s looking at you, Britain).
Malta’s community depends on public funding, but the attitude of seeing art as pointless or useless, or something only the elite snobs get, is still somewhat prevalent. Even more so when government entities put much of their weight behind endeavors with a narrow-minded, short-term vision. It’s less and less about quality, but even more of a bums-on-seats approach. To be fair, though, as Covid-19 raged, both mainstream and alternative creators, together with their respective venues, suffered in equal amount, with barely, if any, support from those in charge.
Admittedly, I’m not as much part of the community any longer— having spent already a year and a half away from the motherland — but strictly speaking from personal experience, I feel it safe to assume Malta’s artistic community is slowly but surely resisting any attempt of fragmentation. This happens mostly in terms of mainstream vs alternative, risktakers vs safe players, “elite” vs “low-brow”. Again, I’m using the terms very loosely, in addition to this being a viewpoint I’m more than willing to be challenged on.
A PERSISTING DILEMMA?
The question mark is there on purpose, because I genuinely don’t want it to be persistent whatsoever. Plus, the release of recent, excellent work in the local music scene gives me some sense of reasonable hope. Maybe the community will survive just fine, after all, but only barely, with more bruises than scratches.
This idea of constant dilemmas and compromises is again shaped from my experience of having, luckily enough, worked in diverse environments, both mainstream and underground. A huge majority of people involved are wholly committed to their art, yet there’s always this underlying question:
How much of their craft should they compromise in order to attract enough work to make a decent living out of being a full-time artist?
Again, I can only speak for myself, but I’ve also had to weigh in these factors in my work as videographer/filmmaker. Ultimately, I decided that the path of least resistance — at least for now — is not entirely for me. I will either be seen as a hard-headed fool, or someone who is slowly becoming more aware and stronger in conviction not to easily compromise a vision.
In any case, I left for the simple reason I feel Malta no longer reserves enough respect for its art and its artists. There came a point I could no longer afford to compromise. I must say I have a renewed sense of respect towards creatives who still thrive in such an environment, despite everything. From where I stand, even though the opportunities are still there regardless, aren’t they becoming few and far between, if not compromised themselves because of cronyism?
Another realization I’ve had is that I find it increasingly pointless to criticize certain artists for opting to churn out ultra-safe, mediocre output. At the end of the day, this is either a side hustle to their full-time work being their main source of income; or, if their artistic endeavor is their main source of income, they can’t exactly afford compromising on making a stable living, no matter if the quality leaves a lot to be desired — although most probably even that is not exactly guaranteed.
On the other hand, alternative, underground artists are to be applauded for sticking to their guns, accepting little to no compromise to push forward their vision of locally-produced art, without expecting very much in return — full disclaimer, however, it’s high time they should put their foot down, and, if not recognition, they demand proper remuneration for their work. Whether we like or not, both facets are sides of the same coin of being compelled to create, whether it’s light, mindless entertainment or challenging meaningful productions.
AN UNJUST IMBALANCE
What I absolutely abhor, however, is the imbalance, the almost intentional celebration of all things puerile, facile, the safest, sub-par local productions ever. Some responsibility does lie in the hands of the artist and cultural consumer, but does it really though? Especially with the advent of YouTube and Netflix exposing the public at large to an array of some very well-produced, high-quality outputs? It most definitely lies totally on the shoulders of the supposed decision-makers, self-styled as tastemakers. Let’s take a very recent example.
I’m ready to give The Travellers the benefit of the doubt, that they didn’t ask for the following classification themselves — not that they rejected it though, either, in all honesty. Nevertheless, in what capacity did the presenter of the Maltese song festival “Mużika Mużika” classify the aforementioned band as pioneers of Maltese song?
Does the presenter live in an alternate universe, where bands like Xtruppaw, Djun, Brikkuni and Brodu, to name just a few, have never even registered as a twinkle in their respective parents’ eyes? It’s not like the presenter rushed to make amends either — again, not holding my breath whatsoever, as I stand to be corrected.
This imbalance is tantamount to a sheer disregard of other worthwhile artists, which barely if ever get invited to such events. I think we can safely say it also smacks of politically-motivated bias, which, ultimately, is only accelerating the self-sabotage and smothering of an already fledgling community.
Cronyism is a major driving force behind this attitude — “not what you know, but who you know” has evolved into “not what you know, not who you know, but how well-connected are you?”
‘BLOOD ON THE CROWN’ — PEAK CRONYISM
The recently-released movie Blood on the Crown is what I personally consider as cronyism made flesh — the ultimate embodiment of cronyist culture. There’s a Maltese saying which goes “Il-ġurnata minn filgħodu turik” — literally, morning shows the day.
When the trailer was released, hearts just sank — it looked more like a propaganda piece rather than a movie. And well, if it looks like a duck… Not even the star power of Harvey Keitel — an actor of his caliber completely wasted here — and Malcolm McDowell combined could inject the movie with enough nuance, subtlety and artistry worthy of the fateful historical events of 7th June 1919.
I bear no grudge whatsoever with anyone involved in the production — both cast and crew made best with material that left a whole lot to be desired, and, let’s face it, working alongside Harvey Keitel and Malcolm McDowell is not exactly an opportunity anyone would pass by. I’m mostly heavily disappointed — ‘disappointed’ sounds too docile, I’d say I’m pretty fucking livid — local artists have to make do with increasingly mediocre, sub-par material devoid of any fantasy, challenge or freshness.
The dubious ways with which the movie was funded doesn’t help its case. It was possibly in breach of EU regulations, and when you consider the fact that the government refuses to publish any information with regards this deal, it certainly does not bode well. Hell, last year alone no one in the authorities bothered to even lift a finger to intercede in saving the only film festival of European prestige we had on the island.
Then again, this kind of skullduggery is to be expected when the minister responsible for the Malta Film Commission owns secret Panama companies. Or maybe this was all a complicated PR stunt for the then minister of Tourism and minister Education and Culture to get their photos taken on set.
ON A MUCH MORE POSITIVE NOTE
I am slowly adapting to being more hopeful in the face of all this. Malta’s artistic community seems to doing quite well without much help from the entities, thank you very much. Surely, in much better situations and circumstances, a community as small as ours would be way more vibrant and thriving if even more resources were invested in it.
It can definitely consider itself as a highly resourceful one, enough to bypass the lack of transparency in the funding process, or the constant barrage of letdowns. I can’t mention all the artists for whom, ironically enough, 2020 was their year — local musicians Joon and BarkBarkDisco have releases on renowned label Italians Do It Better. 215 collective, with stalwart Eddie Fresco, put Malta on the map of rising talents in rap/hiphop/trap — this track alone garnered 2 million views! The upcoming Maltese movie Luzzu also caught the attention of critics at Sundance this year.
Even in a more local context, a slew of talents elevated their art to new ambitious heights — Michael Azzopardi’s debut EP, Hearts Beating In Time’s Godardian vision, Kym Pepe’s haunting melodies, Brodu’s latest album Blu, and many, many, many more, I will definitely fail to mention because I can’t keep up. With regards film, Is-Sriep Reġgħu Saru Velenużi, looks like quite a promising feature too!
It’s an excitement undercut with the frustration of seeing this much value being downright ignored. I don’t think, as an artistic community, we deserve this kind of treatment any longer. Some would dare say that if they’re doing good enough as it is, why the hell am I even complaining for?
The answer comes easy — because it’s high time us creators demand to be treated and respected as workers in our own right, capable in our craft as any other person rendering a service. We’re not just there to fill your hours with content. Ours is a service that cultivated your mind and nourished your soul, when you risked losing both as the pandemic raged on. And I hope people make it a point to remember this, before mouthing off unsolicited advice to struggling artists.
Stay safe out there!
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