Local artist turns 4,000 plastic bottles into sculpture of Christ

Oct 2 2021

Maltese environmental activist Joseph Barbara has been turning plastic bottles into art sculptures for over 30 years and his latest work has definitely got people talking.

After months of plastic bottle collection, the Maltese artist managed to create the likening, which was erected in Ta’ Pinu, Gozo on Friday as part of a project called ‘Cast-Out’.

The Cast-Out project organised several clean-ups around Gozo over the past months, with the bottles collected during the activity ultimately being used for the 4.5-by-four-metre art installation.

Barbara had also created Malta’s first-ever eco-Christmas tree using 4,000 plastic bottles way back in 2007.

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The Real Dark Endings to Your Favourite Disney Fairy Tales

Oct 1 2021

We’ve dealt with the Pixar Theory’s mind-blowing world building and some of the scariest cartoon theories out there. But what if we were to tell you that, yes, even the original tellings of some of Disney’s most popular films have dark and brutal endings? Here are just a few of Disney’s favourite adaptations and their original haunting climax.

Snow White

Snow White gets off easy in the original version of the story by Brothers Grimm. After the whole apple and prince ordeal, the now Queen Snow White invites the evil matriarch to her wedding. There, the evil queen is forced to wear hot iron shoes and made to dance in them until she dies in pain… Yikes.

Tangled

Another Brothers Grimm story, the original version of Tangled, known more notably as Rapunzel, also ends in quite a grim manner (pun intended). Rapunzel has her hair cut by the witch after she ends up pregnant with the prince’s child. The prince is then thrown off the tower, is saved by a bush, but in the process loses his eyesight. The two eventually meet in the wilderness, with the prince remaining blind and the pair having to raise their child in a desert.

Pinocchio

Pinocchio deals with a whole host of tribulations on his adventures. Beaten, mocked and transformed into a donkey, the original version by Carlo Collodi describes the living puppet as a wretched and disobedient boy. Pinocchio even kills his conscience Jiminy Cricket. The author wanted to end the story by hanging the wooden boy but publishers deemed it too dark… and we think we agree.

The Jungle Book

The original version of ‘The Jungle Book’ is called ‘Letting in the Jungle’ by Rudyard Kipling. When Mowgli returns to civilisation, he is chased out after villagers learn of his friendship with wolves. Mowgli later returns with his animal friends and they proceed to…get this…burn the whole village down. We’re all for environmentalism but this is just barbaric.

The Little Mermaid

The original tale of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen is one of the more tragic stories in this list. The mermaid never manages to get the prince to reciprocate her love. When she is told to kill the prince to turn back into a mermaid by her sisters, the main character decides to take her own life and transform into sea foam. Nothing better than some romantic sacrifice…?

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6 movies to watch and learn about race and racism

Oct 1 2021

Systemic racism is not a foreign concept reserved for the larger world, with Malta being just as susceptible to its harm and oppression. The recent story of Jaiteh Lamin has brought the Maltese up close to the realities experienced by oppressed minorities. And yet, it seems, the history of the systemic issue is alien to most. An antidote to this often involuntary denial is listening to Black voices and witnessing their stories. Here are 7 movies you can watch to educate yourself about the history of such a complex issue.

‘I am not your Negro’

By Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck, ‘I Am Not Your Negro’ is a documentary about writer James Baldwin. Featuring narration by Samuel L. Jackson, the film reads out an unfinished book by one of history’s most prolific and talented writers of colour. It investigates the history of racism through the US as Baldwin speaks about civil rights leaders such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

’12 Years a Slave’

A 2013 biographical period-drama film, the film is an adaptation of the 1853 slave memoir ‘Twelve Years a Slave’. It deals with the sort of a New York-state born free African American who is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Northrup is put to work on plantations and the film was named as the 44th greatest film since 2000 in a BBC poll of 177 critics.

‘Moonlight’

A 2016 coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins, ‘Moonlight’ is based on playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney’s unpublished semi-autobiographical play ‘In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.’ The story focuses on the main character’s stages in life as he struggles with sexuality and identity. It works to weave topics of blackness, masculinity and vulnerability and grossed over $65 million worldwide.

‘Get Out’

‘Get Out’ is director and writer Jordan Peele’s directorial debut and is an American horror film in which a young black man ends up in a terrifying situation with his girlfriend’s parents. It received widespread acclaim from critics, focusing on the lack of attention given to missing black Americans and the stereotype of ‘white saviours.’

‘BlacKkKlansman’

A biographical spy crime comedy film directed by Spike Lee based on 2014 memoir Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth. The latter was the first African-American detective in the city’s police department to infiltrate and expose the local KKK. Despite dramatising a couple of events, the film was met with considerable acclaim and praise for stellar performances and its depiction of African-Americans working in the force.

Selma

‘Selma’ is a 2014 historical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Paul Webb. It is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches initiated by James Bevel and led by Martin Luther King Jr. It received four Golden Globe Award nominations, praised for its amazing performances and also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

Of course, watching films isn’t the antidote to dealing with racism. Action is. But one cannot act on something one does not know exists or how it operates. Watching such films and doing the background reading and research can help one become a better supporter of such causes. These are current issues close to our existence. The more we’re aware the better equipped we could be to help in anyway we can.

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PN vows to address competitive disadvantages for Maltese industry

Oct 1 2021

Maltese industry has to pay around 44% higher costs for transportation, with the Nationalist Party stating on Friday that this pushes up the price of products by 6%. The Opposition is insisting that there is an urgent need to help Maltese industry compete on a level playing field with European competitors.

Peter Agius, the party’s chief spokesperson, visiting a factory in the Marsa industrial estate. Along with PN candidates Joseph Grech and Stefan Caruana, Agius said that a new Nationalist government would immediately address the competitive disadvantage faced by factories, companies and importers. This would be done through the implementation of a support system which alleviates said disadvantages.

This would occur through the examination of quotations which compare the export of pallets of products from Malta against those exported from Sicily to France. The difference on one consignment of the same weight meant a difference of €1,600 of added price on Maltese product. Agius said that when it comes to delivery of pharmaceutical products, this has an impact of 6%.

Agius highlighted how this indicates that Maltese product should already be 6% cheaper to even begin to compete. The impact of transport price would also be much greater on lower value manufacturing products. Grech said that it is ‘fundamental that our country launches a support for exports and imports because only in this way will we be able to reach a level playing field for Maltese manufacturing.’

Caruana on his part said that the impact of transport prices means high prices for the Maltese consumer as well. This leads to direct employment impact as the industry is under pressure due to the transport prices, making it harder to invest in better wages and conditions.

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