Cats of Malta Japanese Theatrical Release

Thanks to our Japanese distributor Fine Films, Cats of Malta, known as Nekoshima in Japan, will be released across Japanese theatres from 10th January 2025.

While in Tokyo, we took part in three press interviews and visited two venues - Human Trust Cinema and Shinjuku Musashino Theater - to meet mangers and staff, and sign walls, posters and other printed materials. The private screening Hibiya Library & Museum also went well, with 100 attentive people in the audience and a successful Q & A session.

This project is supported by Arts Council Malta and マルタ観光局 MTA Japan.

We had so much fun in Tokyo representing Cats of Malta and are excited to see the result of the wonderful marketing campaign Fine Films have been working on for months.

Here is the website for Nekoshima in Japan, where the theatrical venues and showtimes are listed: https://catsofmalta-movie.com/

All photos from the Japanese screening can be found on the Cats of Malta Facebook page.

SJ and Ivan at Shinjuku Musashino Theater Tokyo before signing the poster.

We enjoyed the Q&A after the private screening at Hibiya Library & Museum Tokyo

Sugar Short film; NPG's 13th Life Improvised film

Sugar , the thirteenth film in our ongoing Life Improvised series is complete.

We filmed this one in Prague and then added a scene in London a few months later.

Sugar is about a middle-aged father who spends a day in Prague with a young woman he met online, but a phone call makes him question the morals of his relationship.

Thanks to the small team that made this one possible too. Look out for more news about Sugar in 2025. 

Dalia Cohen and Owen Lindsey as Carolina and Roy in NPG’s SUGAR

Another Feature Film Finished; After the Act is coming soon.

Our latest feature film After the Act is complete

It’s always a great feeling when you wrap up post production on a major project and this one took one and half years from filming to finish. 

Ivan was in Berlin during the final weeks of November to hold a cast and crew screening of the film at Beware! Laden Kino and it was wonderful to reunite with the beautiful team that made this film possible.

The feedback to the film was positive and heart-warming to experience.

The humble private screening in Berlin of After theAct.

After returning home, just before flying to Japan for Cats of Malta, a few more tweaks were done, and now we can call this one ready.

The festival and distribution process for After the Act begins now, so wish us luck!  

Cats In Canada

Cats of Malta is representing Malta at the European Film Festival 2024 in Canada. The event runs from November 14th - November 28th in person, plus online from December 1st - 17th.

Our doco has three screening dates in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.

Presented in partnership by the High Commission of the Republic of Malta. Organised by Canadian Film Institute.

Cats of Malta Theatrical Screenings in Japan

Ever since we began filming cats in Malta back in 2019 as a way to do some camera tests, leading to the idea of producing a feature documentary which became Cats of Malta, we dreamed about one day showing the film in Japan.

Japanese tourists have an affinity with Maltese cats, with the giant cat statue in Sliema being a favourite tourist hotspot, as highlighted in the film.

Artist Matthew Pandolfino re-painting his famous ‘Saint of the Cats’ sculpture.

So it is great joy we can announce that Cats of Malta has landed Japanese distribution. The film will be showing in cinemas across Japan  on January 10th 2025.

Cats of Malta poster and back of the promo flyer courtesy of Fine Films.

We will be working closely with our distributor as well as our patner Malta Tourism Authority Japan to make the release as big as it can be, and from the promotion material we have seen already, we are super excited.

Find the latest on the event website.

Your Feature Has Longevity

Can you be successful with a do-it-yourself approach to filmmaking? Or is securing grants, investments, and tax incentives the only way to succeed? Which approach produces the better films and what are the pros and cons of each?

Find out in our new Micro Budget Madness video on Youtube. Check it out and if you haven't already done so, subscribe to our channel to show your support.

Timely Maltese Women's Rights Film Lands on Amazon

Our timely documentary about women's rights in Malta, No Woman is an Island is now available to watch on Amazon in the US.

If you are in the US, check it out here, leave a review, and help spread the word about the struggles for equality women in Malta still face today. 

The important doco also landed a 4.5 / 5 star review from Video Librarian.

Human Rights Documentary Released

Our human rights documentary No Woman is an Island is now available to watch worldwide via Vimeo On Demand.

This powerful 54 minute documentary brings to light many current obstacles and injustices working against women in Malta, including the denial of body autonomy and the current abortion debate, gender based violence and traditional outdated ideas and expectations based around gender roles.

After screening in women's rights festivals and even being part of a protest for change in the EU Parliament, we are proud to finally share No Woman is an Island with you.

Watch No Woman is an Island here. 

Read Sarah Jayne's opinion piece about life as a woman in Malta here. 

If you're an educator in Europe and keen to utilise No Woman is an Island as part of your curriculum, please get in touch. 

Free Course: Learn about the Art Department

Our one hour course How to Become an Art Department Dynamo is now available to watch completely free on our Micro-Budget Madness Youtube Channel. 

Presented by Sarah Jayne, who has over 15 years experience working in art department roles on independent films, this course will teach you how to work as a solo art department person or as an art department person within a small team. The course is aimed at people who work on micro-budget productions or plan to in the near future.

Check it out here.

No Woman is an Island | Feminist documentary pre-sale

After a busy 2024 screening at the European Parliament in Brussels and premiering at the Women Deliver Conference in Rwanda, No Woman is an Island is now available to pre-order from our Vimeo channel. 

The documentary will be released on August 22nd. Watch the trailer below and pre-order here.

If you're an educator in Europe and keen to utilise No Woman is an Island as part of your curriculum, please get in touch. 

Film Festival fun for Roniti

While some parts of Europe has been enjoying a heat wave, our Balkan short film Roniti has been enjoying some festival fun, just in time to spread the summer vibes.

After returning from Bulgaria, where the coming of age drama screened in Pernik, Sofia as part of 21st In The Palace Short Film Festival, we got word that Roniti was also selected for one of our favourite festivals, Gozo Film Festival, Malta.

Director Ivan Malekin and producer Sarah Jayne participating in the Q&A about Roniti at the 21st In The Palace Short Film Festival, July 2024

We hope that there are more festivals to come for our 20 minute short about a mother and her teenage daughter, who on a summer holiday in Zadar must navigate their relationship after a family scandal.

Stay tuned and watch the Roniti trailer here.

Filming Double Header

We have just returned home from a road trip from Zagreb to Berlin and Prague to finish our feature film, After the Act, as well as shooting a new Life Improvised film called Sugar.

For After the Act in Berlin, we were adding pick-ups and filming new scenes, expanding the story after reviewing the edit and realizing it needed more work. The shoot had it all; fresh locations, new faces, reunions with cast and crew, challenging bike shots and moody aesthetics, plus loads of moments and laughs! 

Filming pick-ups in Berlin for After the Act

On the way home from Berlin, we stopped over in Prague to film Ivan Malekin's moral dilemma short film Sugar. The film is about Roy, a middle-aged father, estranged from his daughter, who spends a day in Prague with Karolina, a young woman he met online, navigating a complex web of loneliness, longing, and unspoken truths.

It was wonderful to film in the picturesque and surprising Bohemian capital, a city we fall madly in love with after every visit. Getting to work with actors Dalia Cohen and Owen Lindsay for the first time and local make-up artist Stefaniia Shchepankevych was also a massive positive.

Expect more updates about After the Act and Sugar as we complete post production.

In the magical city of Prague filming Sugar

Cats of Malta DVD and Blu-Ray back on sale

Earlier this year, our Media on Demand distributor handling the production of the Cats of Malta DVD and Blu-rays had a bit of a hiccup with the file, causing the sales to pause. Good news is that the issue has been fixed and both items are back on sale via Amazon, as well as other retailers. Get your collectors item today, the whole 69 minutes, including bonus features.

Find all the details where to watch Cats of Malta on the film’s website.

Balkan Film Roniti First Festival Selection

We’re thrilled to announce that our 15 min Croatian language film, Roniti has been selected for the 21st IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival.

Part of NPG’s Life Improvised Series, the performances by the small cast were improvised, working off a concept written by Ivan Malekin. The story for Roniti was inspired by summers watching divers at Kolovare beach in Zadar and explores the tension filled relationship between a mother and her teenage daughter while away on a weekend trip.

IN THE PALACE IFF is an Academy Award qualifying film festival that has been running for 22 years and takes place at the Palace of Culture, in the town of Pernik, Bulgaria from June 29th to July 6th, 2024.

At this stage we are not sure when Roniti will screen, but we are planning to be in attendance.

Roniti trailer

Breaking the Silence in Brussels: Using documentary film to inspire change

Last week in Brussels we were part of a history making event that was breaking the silence on women's rights in Malta. On Valentines Day, Malta's ban on abortion was discussed within the European Parliament for the first time.

At the same event, our film No Woman is An Island screened and was followed up by a panel consisting of MEPs, activists, doctors and artists. To say it was an honour to attend EU Parliament in Brussels and stand with around 80 Maltese activists is an understatement.

We feel so proud of our collective efforts and no matter where you stand on the debate of abortion, it's a fair argument to state that women's body autonomy shouldn't be anyone else's business besides the woman.

After many similar discussions within EU Parliament laws were passed regarding LGBTQ rights and divorce in Malta. Now we’re waiting for the day that those responsible for European decision-making will do the same regarding the dire issues facing women and girls in Malta, particularly abortion.

The power of activism and the power of film are sometimes one and the same and both are not to be overlooked.

Thanks goes to MP Cyrus Engerer — the only Maltese politician to have voted in favour of abortion being declared a fundamental human right. Cyrus invited 'No Woman is an Island' and us, the producers to Brussels to stand with the Maltese activists within EU Parliement and on the streets at such a prestigious event.

WANT TO KNOW MORE? Read Sarah Jayne’s blog post talking about her experience in Brussels with No Woman is an Island here.

NPG's 24 Hour Feature Film Friends, Foes & Fireworks Lands on Pay TV Platform Pickx

We're happy to announce you will soon be able to stream Friends, Foes & Fireworks in Belgium, as the ink has just dried on a deal to bring our 2018 mumblecore drama to Pay TV platform Pickx.

For us it highlights the long shelf life of a film with FF&F now six years old but still attracting new platforms and ways to watch.