2973 Christmas (Malta video Boscocrew)
austraLasia #2973
 

Thanks to BOSCOCrew, Malta!
SLIEMA: 29 December 2011 -- An enterprising youthful Salesian FIlm Crew, BoscoCrew, has produced an excellent and creative Christmas video clip which can serve, this year, as austraLasia's Christmas wish to all its readers.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iZsiDklfoI&feature=youtu.be

The aim of the BOSCOcrew production centre is to evangelise through the media, and at the same time to give the young members of the group the opportunity to develop their skills in useful ways.  This Christmas video is a good example of how they operate.

BOSCOCrew has had a number of success this year. On 16 January in Sliema the official presentation took place of their first short film dealing with the problems of isolation, mental handicap and the complications arising especially for young people.

Written by Matthew Alfino and directed by James Spiteri, the film is entitled  “Stembah!” which is Maltese for “wake up!” The video, 10 minutes in length presents the real-life situations experienced by children, when for various reasons they are forced to live a part of their lives in childrens’ homes and shows how in these situations the ability to respond is essential.

After being named among the best three socio-religious programmes broadcast on Maltese Television, “Stembah!” was then placed by the organisers of the Cannes Festival in the short film corner.

This coverage considerably increased the chance of this short film being selected for other international festivals and at the same time exposed the talent and ideas of the young people in the BOSCOcrew to potential partners or distributors. Fr Eric Cachia, who coordinates BOSCOCrew, thinks the film is a winner.  “Firstly, we put people’s talents to good use while making the film, but we’re discovering that through this medium, we’re reaching out to kids who otherwise would not bother with discussions or the Church.”

Two follow-ups are in the pipeline, but the Stenbaħ! producers aim to take it to other festivals.