Mark Adams is an internationally recognised film critic, festival producer and director. He has written for Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Screen International, and others. He is a former artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, head of programming at the BFI Southbank (previously known as the National Film Theatre), and at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA).

Earlier this year, he was appointed artistic director of the Mediterrane Film Festival, a young and exciting endeavour now on its third edition. Mark sat down with DMovies editor and founder Victor Fraga on site. The action takes place in Valletta (the Maltese Capital) and surrounding areas, between June 21st and 29th.

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Victor Fraga – How did this partnership begin? How did you first become acquainted with the Mediterrane Film Festival?

Mark Adams – The Festival were in touch with me in December. They were looking for someone to handle the curation of the programme. They had to wait for the funding to come through at the end of the year first. That’s how I met [Malta Film Commissioner] Johann Grech and [Festival Director] Ray Calleja. And then I soon came here in order to look at the cinemas and the locations.

VF – Had you been to Malta before?

MA – No, that was my first time! It’s an amazing place. It’s interesting to come here in January because it’s not a full-on tourist season.

VF – The Mediterrane is a nascent festival, still in its 3rd edition. What are the main advantages of working with such a young organisation?

MA – Everyone needs to be prepared to learn. You are not going to get everything right the first time. You have to learn from your mistakes, but you also have to be open to change. Plus, as a city [Valletta] has all the opportunities. It’s got amazing weather, cinemas, spaces, lots of pubs, a nearby airport, and it’s easy to get around. A lot of festivals don’t have that.

VF – Is nice weather a good thing? Isn’t that competition for the films?

MA – With the air con it’s actually the most attractive thing sometimes! Cannes and Venice too enjoy good weather. It’s very rare to get poor weather here.

VF – What about the challenges?

MA – It’s year three. From my point-of-view, it’s working with distributors and sales agents, and explaining to them what is it we’re doing here. It’s a conversation, it’s a process. It’s getting the right message to these people.

VF – Do you think this is an audience-facing festival, or more of an industry one?

MA – I think it’s bang in the middle. At the Fort Ricasoli there’s a lot of industry activity, a lot of people coming from the United States. Location managers, technicians, etc. At the same time, we have the film screenings.

VF – You have been at the helm of Edinburgh Film Festival, the BFI and the ICA. What is the main difference between curating for British and for European (namely Maltese) audiences? Are the sensibilities notably different?

MA – I believe that there is no major difference. The other night I was doing the Q&A [of The Return] with [director] Uberto Pasolini, and it was a full house. There were loads of Greeks, Italians, and local people. They all stayed and chatted, taking advantage of the opportunity, Someone told me: “we don’t often get the opportunity to talk to filmmakers here”. Bringing filmmakers and public together is a lovely thing for festivals to do.

VF – First Tricia Tuttle at the Berlinale, and now you. What is it about former BFI curators taking the artistic director seat in European film festivals?

MA – There’s also Clare [Stewart] at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. She’s the festival director, in charge of the festival logistics [the artistic director is Croatian Vanja Kaludjercic]. We festival people move around a lot, you know? I left Edinburgh, then Kristy Matheson came over from Australia and took over, and she’s now at the BFI London Film Festival. We shuffle around a lot. We all talk to each other. We remain friends!

VF – Is there anything particularly useful from your British experience, that be transposed onto Malta?

MA – Interestingly, for distribution rights, Malta is always included with the UK package. So, I spoke to [UK distributor] Modern Films about The Return [Uberto Pasolini, 2024]. Most

VF – Is that a given?

MA – Pretty much so. Unless it’s an Italian film. Then it might go through an Italian sales agent or distributor. That’s an interesting thing. I speak to sales agents, and they understand this, and they know what they have to do.

VF – Have you had the opportunity to learn anything about Maltese cinema? The country is a big destination for location and post-production, but what about its national cinema?

MA – There are plenty of shorts. We took submissions from university films. We did two short film packages. There aren’t that many feature films, and they are mostly independent. I know two of them are wrapping now. We want to have Maltese films [in the Festival]. It’s very important for Maltese directors to meet the international community. There’s Ciao Ciao [Keith Tedesco], which is shot on the streets, in black and white, and uses countryside locations.

VF – Malta has a very intimate relationship with Britain. It was a colony until 1964, and I think it’s fair to say that they remained largely in good terms since the independence/ break-up. Do you think British cinema/ Britishness still inform modern Malta?

MA – They still have the telephone boxes! To a degree, English is their first language, alongside Maltese. Some people speak Italia, too. There is definitely an identification. They have a similar humour. But they are also a lot more laid back, after all they are Mediterranean.

VF – How do you define a Mediterranean film, as in the 12 titles in the Main Competition?

MA – They aren’t Mediterranean films. Production companies are from the broad Mediterranean area. That will be Greek, French, Spanish, Moroccan, Tunisian, Croatian. It’s not about a Mediterranean ethos – because each country has a different sense of what that is. It’s a broad church approach, a way of funnelling different films into one aspect.

VF – Is it correct to say that for a film to be in the Main Competition, one of the production companies has to have a Mediterranean coast?

MA – Yes, but there are co-productions.

VF – Are you working on your own, do you have a supporting team, do you take submissions, or is your selection mostly through scouting?

MA – This year, we didn’t take submissions beyond local films. That’s because we weren’t set up in time. Also submissions is a complicated one, and some festivals use it for money-making purposes. I go to festivals, work out some targets, talk to sales agents and distribution companies in Berlin and Rotterdam. It’s the same old process for all festival people. It’s not a massive programme here, it’s only about 50 films. So that’s something I can do myself. Once you know the sales agents and they know you, you get the links, and things get moving!

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Mark Adams is pictured at the top of this interview, snapped on site by Victor Fraga; the other image is a still of Ciao Ciao.