Rebecca Cremona

Rebecca Cremona is a Maltese film director, screenwriter and producer. Her debut feature film, Simshar, was the first Maltese film to be submitted for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2020, Cremona was honoured with the Order of Merit from the President of Malta for her contributions to the island's cultural sphere.^[1]

Rebecca Cremona
Occupations	Director Writer Producer
Organization	Kukumajsa Productions Ltd.
Website	https://kukumajsa.com

Education

Cremona obtained a BFA (Hons) in Film and Comparative Literature from the University of Warwick, UK, and attended the directing MFA at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles where she made three short films and production designed two others.^[2] She obtained her MFA (Hons) from Art Center College of Design.^[3] There, Cremona wrote and directed Magdalene (2009) which went on to win a Student EMMY and a Directors Guild of America award.^[4]

Career

Early in her career, Cremona worked on a number of films shot in Malta, most notably Munich and Agora.^[5][6] In 2010, Cremona established Kukumajsa Productions, a production company under which Magdalene was produced, and four years later, her debut feature film, Simshar (2014).^[7] Inspired by true events, Simshar tells the tragic story of five fishing crew members who get stranded after their fishing boat capsizes.^[8] The film was submitted for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, the first ever Maltese film to be submitted for this award.^[8][9] Simshar is widely referred to as the first ever Maltese international feature film.^{[8][10][11][12][13]}

Cremona recently adapted for the screen Juliana Maio's novel, City of the Sun for Sara Risher, and was commissioned to write The Crossing for Samson Films and Boudica Films.^[14]

In 2021, Kukumajsa Productions was the first Maltese company to be awarded Creative Europe MEDIA funds, which helped Cremona develop two features, a TV series and a short film.^[15] Aside from these projects, Cremona is also developing three other TV series.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role			Notes
2005	My Story (L-Istorja Tiegħi)	Director	Writer	Producer	Short film
2006	Mended Spectacle	Director	Writer	Producer	Short film
2007	Second Story Angel	Director	-	-	Short film
2007	Kathy's Song	Director	Writer	Producer	Short film
2009	Magdalene	Director	Writer	Producer	Short film
2014	Simshar	Director	Co-Writer	Executive Producer	Feature film
2018	The Accomplice (Il-Kompliċi)	-	Co-writer	Producer	Short film