Valletta plays Jerusalem

Valletta's East Street was draped in Israeli flags last week, playing the part of a Jerusalem road on a public holiday, for the shooting of the movie Eichmann, an $8 million-budget movie by Peter Bevan and Michael Frenchkowski based on the final confession of Adolf Eichmann before his execution in Israel . The Hamrun police station is acting as Eichmann's prison cell. As a high ranking German Nazi, Eichmann was responsible for the transportation of Jews to the death camps. Fiona Galea Debono writes:

.."We needed something that was convincing," said Mr Bevan. And they found that in Malta. The "untouched" architecture, still in a pristine state and unmarred by modern interventions - as many producers somehow seem to view it - was the main attraction: Eichmann is set in Jerusalem, and Malta did not need much of a make-over to play that role. "There isn't the modern stuff that often gets in the way, especially when doing a period movie," comments Mr Bevans, squinting in the sun..

"People know what Jerusalem looks like and you cannot cheat. We looked at Spain and all around the world really... Of course, the political situation excluded Israel from the options, with the whole Israeli-Hizbollah war going on when they were putting everything together. Agents and insurances would not have it!"

And Steven Spielberg's Munich, shot here in the summer of 2005, has certainly served its purpose. It was through this movie that the producers knew Malta would work as a Middle Eastern country. They came over to scout for locations and see with their own eyes a couple of months ago, but it did not take them too long to decide..

A fledgling production company, the UK outfit E-Motion has already come a long way in its first year of life - Eichmann is its second movie since its inception. Plans for the immediate future include a movie about the Vatican, starring Peter O'Toole and Albert Finney, and the possibility of other projects heading for Malta, depending on the story. After all, their experience here has been positive...The Malta Film Commission was also especially helpful, particularly in the early stages. They are very straightforward and made our work easy. It is very clear how you can get a tax rebate on what you spend in Malta."...