On the island of Malta, a young fisherman weighs the painted wooden boat his family has worked for generations against the money he needs this week. Luzzu, the 2021 drama directed by Alex Camilleri, streams on K-Time with Persian dubbing and subtitles.
What is Luzzu about?
Jesmark fishes the waters around Malta the way his father and grandfather did, from a luzzu, the traditional brightly coloured boat that gives the film its name. The catch is thin, the costs keep rising, and at home there is a girlfriend and a newborn son who need more than the sea is currently giving. Faced with that arithmetic, Jesmark begins to look at the black market in fish, where the rules that govern honest fishermen do not apply and the money comes faster. Stepping into it means turning his back on everything the boat stands for, and risking the little he has left. The film follows him through that decision, staying close to the docks, the boat and the small domestic spaces where the consequences land.
About the cast
Jesmark Scicluna heads the cast, with Michela Farrugia, David Scicluna, Frida Cauchi, Uday McLean, Timur Ali and Marta Vella making up the rest of the ensemble. Alex Camilleri directs. The performances are pitched at a quiet, observational register, with the working rhythms of the harbour and the boat forming as much of the texture as the dialogue does.
Context & significance
Malta is a small nation that rarely appears on international screens as anything other than a backdrop for other people's stories, so a Maltese-made drama about Maltese working life is itself notable. Luzzu belongs to a broader tradition of social realism about people at the bottom of an economy, where a single decision about money carries the weight of a whole way of life. The film's central image, the hand-painted fishing boat, ties that economic pressure to questions of inheritance and identity: to sell or abandon the luzzu is to close a chapter that stretches back generations.
Watching Luzzu on Ktime
Luzzu is available on K-Time with a Persian dub and Persian subtitles, so Farsi-speaking viewers can either hear the film in their own language or follow the original audio with subtitles. You will need a K-Time account and to be logged in to press play; the page you are reading is free. The service is built around a Farsi interface for the Persian-speaking community abroad.