Malta has been a notable Mediterranean production hub in the Mediterranean for several years, with a skilled crew base, a competitive filming incentive and enticing sun-blasted visuals. Over the past year the island nation has reaffirmed its appeal as a useful stand-in for Middle Eastern locations.
Recent high-profile features have included 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Michael Bay’s account of the terror attacks on US compounds in the Libyan city of Benghazi in 2012. Justin Kurzel used Malta to depict 15th century Spain for his cinematic adaptation of Assassin's Creed.
French producer Luc Besson also filmed action thriller The Lake, using the famous water tank facilities at Malta Film Studios.
Malta has a stable government and flexible, Mediterranean visuals that should continue to help the island nation compete with production rivals like Morocco, Croatia, Jordan and United Arab Emirates.
Our efforts this year will focus on promoting Malta as a good film location and restructuring the film fund in order to promote and incentivise more Maltese feature films and short film production for newcomers.
Engelbert Grech, Malta Film Commissioner
Malta’s climate is strongly influenced by the sea and is typically Mediterranean. The islands have a daily average of five to six hours of sunshine in mid-winter to more than 12 hours in summer.
Summers are hot, dry and very sunny. Daytime temperatures in summer are often mitigated by cooling sea breezes, but in spring and autumn a very hot wind from Africa, known as the Sirocco, occasionally brings unseasonally high temperatures and humidity.
The temperature averages 14.1C in winter (November to April) and 32C in summer (May to October). The hottest period is from mid-July to mid-September.
Winters are mild, with the occasional short chilly period brought about by the north and north-easterly winds from central Europe.
Annual rainfall is low, averaging 578mm a year, and the length of the dry season in summer is longer than in neighbouring Italy. Sea bathing is quite possible well in to the ‘winter’ months and the peak beach season can last until mid- to late-October.
