Just before the Toronto premiere, musical icon Michael Williams who voices a character in the film and much respected Chris Hall, the Producer, Writer, Composer and Arranger of the music, brilliant Inanna star / creator JOanne Camilleri and Tracy Lamourie and Dave Parkinson of the Lamourie Media PR team.
Next Step is Live Performances at the stunning theaters in Malta or Gozo and at the temples on the Maltese Islands where Inanna once lived.
Belly dance, circus, animation and music come together in an epic experience like no other.
It’s an incredible story. One of the most ancient stories ever told. It’s the story of Inanna, the “rising Goddess.” At the dawn of human history, Inanna was worshiped as the Goddess of life. She predates ancient Greek mythos.
Both the 90-minute film (born out of Covid when live productions were not possible) and the upcoming epic live production, which Joanne Camilleri, the star and creative genius behind the project, hopes to bring home to the Maltese islands are based on the epic poem of INANNA’s most famous myth “The Descent of Inanna” found written on a cuneiform 5500 years ago. INANNA is the myth of the goddesses’ descent and rise from the Underworld. Goddess of Love, Beauty, Sex, Desire, Fertility, War, Combat, Justice, and Political Power, the 5500 – year – old tale of the Goddess INANNA embodies a celebration of womanhood.
Some big names lent their talents to the film. Canadian music and cultural figure Michael Williams voices a major character, and Michael Fonfara, an Icon in music of gigantic proportions whose legendary work with Lou Reed, Rough Trade, Foreigner and many more made him famous, played keyboards on the soundtrack. Fred Mandel, another huge talent, who played with Elton John, Queen, Pink Floyd, and Supertramp, also contributed to the keyboards, while Peter De Sotto from Quartteto Gelato played Violin. Terry Brown, best known as the producer of the legendary Canadian band “Rush,” mixed the INANNA album. Chris Hall, the Producer, Writer, Composer and Arranger of the album, has been composing for 5 decades, and his work has been heard on some of Canada’s biggest TV productions (“Man Alive,” ‘The 5th Estate” and “The Nature of Things” with David Suzuki.) He has albums of his songs produced by Ron Chapman, of Canadian fame. Canadian singer and rising star Lynn Moffatt does an incredible job on the film’s vocals.
Equally important are the visuals – Izzy Camilleri, Joanne’s sister, just happens to be “one of Canada’s most innovative and celebrated fashion designers. It was Izzy that looked after the costume design.
Maltese Canadian Camilleri chose Toronto, where she lives today and where many of the film’s cast and crew are based for the film launch. “The Toronto premiere of the epic tale of INANNA, the Rising Goddess of Malta, was a remarkable experience and so well received with a full house packed with an audience of all mindsets, after a Q and A left the audience with an enlightened feeling of the power of the goddess of Malta and her sister island Gozo.
Inanna’s connection to the incredible Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo is a fascinating one. Female deities were worshiped and adored all through Prehistoric history, but the Goddess who outweighed, overshadowed, and outlasted them all was the Goddess INANNA. She has roots as far back as the Neolithic era. Her worship was widespread in prehistoric Mediterranean and Sumerian cultures. Malta and Gozo are the sites of some of the oldest freestanding structures and temples in the world. It is particularly rich in ancient representations of her and sites devoted to her.
The culturally important film, which recently premiered at a star-studded night in Toronto, is the “proof of concept” for what promises to be an incredible live production.
“The story of Inanna is found inscribed on clay tablets and fragments in Inanna’s temples that exist today in Malta and her sister island Gozo. “It is our vision to present INANNA live in theaters on the islands of Malta and Gozo and at the Goddesses Neolithic Temples where she once lived,” Camilleri says.
She is now in Malta, engaging in conversation with local theaters, performers and government officials to make it a reality.
This production was also highly endorsed and promoted amongst the Maltese-Canadian Community in Canada and the one million Maltese and Gozitian diaspora around the world by the former Consul General of thr Republic of Malta to the Commonwealth of Canada, Dr Raymond. C. Xerri
“I see this production becoming a national-level performance that will be representative of Malta’s ancient history and will celebrate Malta for both locals and for tourists on an annual basis. Effectively, our production will contribute to the cultural preservation of history through the performing arts,” she adds with passion.
Following the Malta/Gozo tour, she said she intends “to bring this old tale full of symbolisms back to North America. It is my goal to transport back the goddesses’ excitement from these islands to present as a live performance in theaters in my hometown of Toronto and beyond.”
“Internationally, the production will educate the world on Malta/Gozo’s critical contribution to the development of modern society through the mythos.”
