Ciao Ciao unravels the story of two couples brought together for a seemingly harmless reunion dinner. But as the evening unfolds, polite smiles and social graces crumble, giving way to raw, unfiltered chaos. You know that awkward moment when a simple goodbye at the door stretches into an endless 20-minute conversation? Now imagine that goodbye dragging on until sunrise.
“The goal of this project was to summarise and represent Malta and Maltese identity in film, to be universally appreciated through the relatable act of (stretching) saying goodbye. This film is a direct response to the statement ‘I don’t know anything about Malta’. Ciao Ciao is a satirical story, a dark comedy, a romance and an experimental drama using the timeline and perspective switches for comedic and suspense effects. It was truly a pleasure working with suchCiao Ciao passionate professionals, who all stuck to my improvised eighth rule dogme to stretch the budget and focus on story”, Keith Albert Tedesco told FNE.
The main cast consists of Antonella Axisa, Mikhail Basmadjian, Simone Spiteri, Kevin Naudi and Ruth Borg.
Keith Albert Tedesco and Fabrizio Fenech are producing the film through Maltese company Lampa Stampa Films. The project has been financed by the Arts Council Malta Kultura TV Fund with 44,000 EUR in 2023. Lampa Stampa Films and the director Keith Albert Tedesco covered the remaining 30,000 EUR through self-funding.
The total budget of the project is 75,000 EUR.
Roughcut, represented by Fabrizio Fenech, was the main production partner as it handled postproduction from onset dailies, to coordinating sound, ADR and sound mixing with Mirko Galea, to editing and coordinating colour correction and grading with colorist Anthony Wood. Dominic Carmelo Darmanin handled the score whilst watching drafts from every act.
The writing process started around January 2024, having been funded with just a script outline as a pitch. It was followed by online writing workshops with the writers Chris Dingli, Antonella Axisa, Mikhail Basmadjian and Keith Tedesco.
The preproduction started in August 2024 and the film was shot in only 10 days at the beginning of September 2024.
Ciao Ciao will enjoy an exclusive premiere for cast, crew, media and special guests on the 19 March. It will be self-distributed in Malta and Gozo starting with 28 March 2025. The producers are currently open to collaborations with global distributors.
Production Information:
Producer:
Lampa Stampa Films (Malta)
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Credits:
Director: Keith Albert Tedesco
Scriptwriters: Chris Dingli, Antonella Axisa, Mikhail Basmadjian, Keith Albert Tedesco
Idea: Fleur Tedesco
DoP: Keith Albert Tedesco
Composer: Dominic Carmelo Darmanin
Production designer: Maria Rosa Thornhill
Cast: Chris Dingli, Antonella Axisa, Mikhail Basmadjian, Simone Spiteri, Kevin Naudi, Ruth Borg, Ryan Mark De Battista, Katrina Lupi, Matthew Sant Sultana, Ben Darmanin
