We interviewed Sarah Jayne, director of Cats of Malta presented in official selection at the 2022 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, which we are covering as official media partner.
As proud Official media partner of the 2022 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, we are offering you a series of interviews with the filmmakers in competition at this year’s MDFF, running in person on July 21-31 and online on July 1-31.
Cats of Malta celebrates the island’s stray cats and the people who, through volunteering, art and folklore show the cats unconditional love and support.
We were delighted to chat with director Sarah Jayne Portelli and producer/cinematographer/editor Ivan Malekin, about their work.
“Cats in Malta are super tough, independent and resilient – a little like the people.”
Hi Sarah, can you tell us about the starting point of Cats of Malta? What prompted you to work on this film?
Sarah Jayne: We based ourselves and our company in Malta for four years. During that time we kept meeting stray cats everywhere. Naturally we wondered about their story and why there were so many cats and colonies scattered all over this tiny island. We never set out to make a film and tell their stories and it all started out as a camera test following stray cats around a park during the start of the pandemic. Once we had all this cat footage it presented an opportunity to create something unique. The idea steamed from there, and grew rapidly after I discover local Maltese artist Matthew Pandofino was painting his cat sculpture. I called him and he agreed to chat with us on camera. Cats of Malta became more than an idea at that point.
Tell us a little bit what is so specific about cats in Malta?
Sarah Jayne: Cats in Malta are super tough, independent and resilient – a little like the people. They brave the elements, including more days of summer than any any other European country – 300 days to be exact – and the tourist influx. They integrate with the locals and become part of the landscape. It’s fair to say that they now enhance the Maltese landscape in my opinion and the opinion of the human subjects in the film. Saying that the cats are heavily supported by a majority of the locals, who of course neuter and provide shelter for them and medical care if they need.
How did you approach the filming of the cats? What were your creative guidelines?
Sarah Jayne: How we approached the filming of the cats depended on the cat and the story. For the most part, we were familiar with the cats we were filming and their temperament. Aside from the Cat cafe of course and Polly’s cats, who we were meeting for the first time. I don’t remember having any creative guidelines, it was basically get as much footage of these cats as you can! We did go back and shoot B roll of cats and of course we already had a lot of cat footage prior to shooting the interviews. Some cats were very curious about the cameras, walking into the lens, others were not so impressed. With interviews at Animal Guardians Cat Cafe we basically ran with the story of what was happening with the cats and what they were doing on the day, looking for humorous stuff. At the Cat Village we creatively wanted to show the positive and negatives.
By focusing on cats, does the film also convey a message on humans?
Sarah Jayne: Totally. Cats of Malta is not just a film about cats, it’s a film about human connection and the power of community. Malta’s cat lovers that make up the cat community are very much one large unit of support for the stray cats. Cats of Malta shows how much cats need people and people need cats, for companionship, entertainment, mental health aid, support and hope.
To Ivan Malekin (DOP/editor/producer), what were you looking for in the footage when putting the film together in the editing room?
Ivan Malekin: I wasn’t just the editor on the film, I was also the cinematographer so I was there at each interview capturing our subjects but also chasing cats on my hands and knees!
So I knew the footage we had to work with and the biggest challenge was the sheer amount of it. I think there is something like 8TB worth of footage and there was so much to sort through in terms of what do you keep, what do you discard, what order do you put the questions and interviews in for the best flow, etc. I was looking for the best story in the edit. The rhythm of the film if you will.
And that is the sort of thing that only emerges through trial and error, beginning broad and narrowing things down, especially in documentary as there is no narrative script to follow.
Finally, for me, Cats of Malta is about the power of cats to bring communities together and just how adorable, mysterious, and special cats are.
Cats of Malta will play for free on Monday 25th July 2022 at 6.30pm at Federation Square (Melbourne, Australia).
