Screen Malta Restoration: Sons of the Sea

This 1926 silent film was the first to be filmed in Malta. Featuring D.C. Kenerdine and E Godfrey as two young men – one a rich boy and the other a gardener's son – who join the British Royal Navy in 1914 and later save a girl from Mediterranean bandits.

The event will also include a presentation by Jean Pierre Borg about the film's significance as the first foreign film to shoot in Malta and its historical importance as the first narrative film allowed by the Admiralty on its ships. Plus a presentation detailing the restoration interventions that went into Sons of the Sea by Anthony Badger, Head of Restoration, Silver Salt Restoration Ltd.

Screening of Sons of the Sea with live Piano accompaniment by Kris Spiteri.

Presentation: Public Talk & Screening: Sons of the Sea

This event marks a landmark moment in Maltese film heritage. Sons of the Sea (1925), the first foreign feature film to be shot on the island of Malta, has been meticulously restored on the initiative of the Malta Film Commission. Saturday, 27 June 2026 will see the premiere of this restored version - a centenary-era milestone for both cinema preservation and Malta's cultural identity.

The event brings together film historians, restoration specialists, and audiences in a programme that combines academic context with the cinematic experience, culminating in a live-accompanied screening of the film at Embassy Cinemas in Valletta.

Background: Sons of the Sea (1925) Produced under the unprecedented support of the British Admiralty, Sons of the Sea was directed by Harry Bruce Woolfe and is the first purely fiction film made with full Admiralty backing. The screenplay – written under the pseudonym Taffrail by naval author Commander Taprell Dorling – follows two young men who join the British Navy during World War I. The story's dramatic climax, in which the heroine is kidnapped by brigands and rescued by a naval operation, was filmed entirely on Malta, specifically around the Għajn Tuffieħa and Ġnejna areas.

The film survives in partial form: four of its original six reels were deposited at Britain's National Film Archive in 1945. These four reels – which include all the Malta-shot sequences – have now been fully restored, enabling future generations to experience this extraordinary chapter in Maltese and British film history.

Venue Details

Part 1 - Mediterrane Festival Hub
The event opens at the Mediterrane Festival Hub,113 Archbishop St, Valletta VLT1444, hosting both talks from 13:00 to 14:00.

Speakers

• Jean Pierre Borg
  Cultural & Development Manager at the Malta Film Commission and the researcher who discovered Sons of the Sea as Malta’s first film.
  He is also chairperson of Filmed in Malta, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to researching, documenting, and raising awareness of Malta's long filmmaking legacy.
• Anthony Badger
  Head of Restoration - Silver Salt Restoration Ltd.
  Anthony Badger is Head of Restoration at Silver Salt Restoration Ltd, a London-based studio widely regarded as one of the UK's leading experts in film and television archive restoration. Co-founded in 2017, Silver Salt has built an exceptional reputation for technically rigorous and artistically faithful restorations of both classic and contemporary titles, including American Werewolf in London, Don't Look Now, Pride and Prejudice (1995), The Deer Hunter, Flash Gordon, Get Carter, and The Beatles: Get Back, among many others. The studio works with clients including the BFI, StudioCanal, Apple Corps, BBC Motion Gallery, Criterion, and Arrow. Anthony brings over a decade of expertise in digital workflow design, spanning film care, scanning, colour grading, and digital restoration. His talk will walk attendees through the technical and curatorial process involved in bringing Sons of the Sea back to life from its surviving four reels.

Important: By confirming your attendance at the public talk, you will receive a complimentary ticket on the day of the event to attend the screening of Sons of the Sea at Embassy Cinemas, Valletta.

Part 2 - Embassy Cinemas, Valletta
The screening of the restored Sons of the Sea will take place at 14:30 at Embassy Cinemas in Valletta. Attendees should allow time to transfer between venues following the conclusion of the talks at 14:00.

Screening with Live Piano Accompaniment

The restored Sons of the Sea will be screened with a live original piano accompaniment by Maltese musician Kris Spiteri, recreating the tradition of silent-era cinema performance.

Pianist

• Kris Spiteri
  Music director, pianist, and composer who has made significant contributions to the local performing arts.
  He co-wrote the award-winning “Porn the Musical,” recognized as Best New Musical at the Off West End Theatre Awards in London. His directorial credits include "Dear Evan Hansen" “Hairspray,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “My Fair Lady,” “Mamma Mia,” “We Will Rock You,” “Matilda,” “La Cage Aux Folles,” “Grease,” “Oliver,” and many pantomimes.

Date

27/06/2026 - 13:00 - 14:00

Mediterrane Festival Hub Room M1, 113 Archbishop St, Valletta VLT1444