Hell Boats

A short but harrowing look at the horrors of war and how the smallest of errors can have tragic consequences as two British paratroopers land in Nazi-occupied Sicily (beautifully filmed in and around Victoria Gate in Valletta) in 1943.

Mar is ready to leave the tiny island of Malta behind, and her estranged mother's death gives her the perfect way out: an inheritance of valuable farmland that she can sell. But when greedy relatives contest her claim, Mar's plans hit a snag. As she fights to secure her future, Mar meets Nenu, a spirited troubadour whose vibrant folk songs, rooted in Malta's ancient għana tradition, awaken emotions she's long buried.

Due to his violent past, Deputy Sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III has been transferred to a rural outpost. When two thugs kill the sheriff, Geronimo shoots one, and the other vows revenge. The thug turns out to be a mob boss, and the court orders Geronimo to extradite him back to Sicily. When their plane is hijacked, the adversaries find their roles reversed.

The background to, events of and consequences of the Battle of Mers-El-Kebir on 3 July 1940. In that battle, Royal Navy ships fired on the French Fleet in order to prevent it from falling into German hands. A French battleship was sunk and several other ships damaged. Nearly 1,300 French sailors were killed.

The story of the HMS Torrin, from its construction to its sinking in the Mediterranean during action in World War II. The ship’s first and only commanding officer is Captain E.V. Kinross, who trains his men not only to be loyal to him and the country, but—most importantly—to themselves.

At the start of World War II, Cmdr. Ericson is assigned to convoy escort HMS Compass Rose with inexperienced officers and men just out of training. The winter seas make life miserable enough, but the men must also harden themselves to rescuing survivors of U-Boat attacks, while seldom able to strike back. Traumatic events afloat and ashore create a warm bond between the skipper and his first officer.

In the early years of the World War II, the Royal Navy is fighting a desperate battle to keep the Atlantic convoy routes open to supply the British Isles, facing the great danger posed by the many German warships, such as the Admiral Graf Spee, which are scouring the ocean for cargo ships to sink.

The film’s storyline is one many returned Maltese migrants will no doubt associate with: it’s about a young free-spirited artist, Karl, who returns to his home island Malta after a long time away. It covers his personal journey discovering his roots. Reliving old habits with friends and memories from his childhood, this journey leads him to re-visit his past with his ex-girlfriend, and then with a new friend, Anna, through whom he visits his old home in Gozo, now a neglected house full of memories. Anna is his springboard for self reflection and becomes his reason for trying to start life again in Malta; a place he’s familiar with but is now seeing through different eyes.

After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.

Professor of language and philosophy Dominic Matei is struck by lightning and ages backwards from 70 to 40 in a week, attracting the world and the Nazis. While on the run, the professor meets a young woman who has her own experience with a lightning storm. Not only does Dominic find love again, but her new abilities hold the key to his research.

A study of the political and religious fanaticism in Malta in the 60s.

The Mediterranean, 1941/42 - Axis forces are using frogmen and manned torpedoes to attack previously impregnable harbours. The Allied forces need to come up with something to answer this threat, which they find in the form of Lt. Lionel "Buster" Crabb.