VISION

AUDIO

TEXT ON SCREEN:

It’s true that life is unfair

and that much of it can’t be helped.

But where I can do anything to avoid unfairness

or to set it straight…

I will.

Daphne Caruana Galizia

1964-2017

EST. DRONE – DAY

We soar along the ocean-beaten walls of a sandstone FORTRESS surrounding the capital city of…

TEXT ON SCREEN: VALETTA, MALTA

A bird, WHISTLES. We discover it’s actually a man selling BIRD WHISTLES. He blows into the small toy, mimicking the bird call.

DARREN sees him then walks by.

FLASH CUT TO:

VO: I spent a lot of time in Malta when I was kid.

ALT: VO: My family is from Malta, I spent a lot of time here when I was a kid.

VHS VIDEO - MALTA

A home video of DARREN in MALTA as a child. He introduces us to the sights around Valetta.

Darren throws on a MALTA CAP, before taking a ride in the back of a TINY CAR.

UPSOT: YOUNG DARREN: We’re back in Malta and we’re at St John’s Cathedral which is right there.

VO: It was always a care-free, sunny, happy place…

UPSOT: WOMAN: Viva Malta!

VO: I knew nothing of Malta’s dark side.

MONTAGE: PARADISE LOST

A rapid montage of dramatic events changes the tone, and shows us a Malta mired in crime and corruption at the highest levels.

UPSOTS: Police Sirens. Arrest Sounds

VO: Behind its postcard looks, Malta is at war with organised crime.

UPSOT: Drug Bust

VO: Drug trafficking, people smuggling and government corruption frequently make headlines…

UPSOT: Protests… Mafia Out!

VO: As citizens take to the streets demanding change...

RESUME: DARREN at FORTRESS - PTC

PTC: I’ve come here to Malta to investigate a murder which shook this country to its core.

TITLES: MURDER IN MALTA

ACT I – THE MURDER OF DAPHNE CARUANA GALIZIA

EXT. REPUBLIC DAY MARCH - DAY

A CROWD gathers to for Republic Day celebrations in Valletta. There’s flags, soldiers, marching, the usual.

UPSOT: SOLDIER: “Form Up!”

PTC: DARREN WATCHING CEREMONY

D3_C1

PTC:
Today is Republic Day in Malta. 47 years ago, it marked the country’s transition to independence from Great Britain

EXT. REPUBLIC DAY MARCH – DAY

DARREN speaks with proud MALTESE folks in the crowd.

DARREN: VOX POP: Are you proud of Malta?

VOX POP 1: Yes, I mean, it’s been 47 years, so yes, I’m very, very proud!

VOX POP 3: I’m very proud and proud of the parliament that work to have our freedom.

EXT. REPUBLIC DAY MARCH – DAY

The PRIME MINISTER’S motorcade deliver’s him to the parade.

SOLDIERS unfurl the MALTESE FLAG and the NATIONAL ANTHEM begins.

VO: Many have come to revel in the patriotism and pride…

VO: But during the national anthem, a few stay silent and offer this gesture…

EXT. REPUBLIC DAY MARCH – CONT’D

DARREN approaches TWO WOMEN holding their hands in the air - making a V SYMBOL with their fingers.  

DARREN: I just saw you guys make this symbol with your fingers during the anthem, what does that mean?

SOT: CHRISTINE: It’s the sign of victory we do during the national anthem, it’s the sign we do in our vigils every month.

SOT: ANN: It’s a signal to the general population that all is not well in this country.

EXT. CHURCH – BELL TOWER – LATER

Metal hits ancient metal, sending a wave of sound from the ancient tower across Valetta…

UPSOT: Church bells ring

VO: The murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia is one of Malta’s most infamous crimes.

ALT:
VO: The women are talking about the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia - one of Malta’s most infamous crimes.

UPSOT: Church bells ring

VO: The story is the stuff of Shakespearean tragedy… a dark tale of powerful men, seemingly corrupted by their own greed.

INT/EXT. CAR – DAY

DARREN leaves the VALETTA – heading to the countryside.

VO: Daphne terrified Malta’s ruling class…

VO: But who was she? And who conspired to kill her? 

EXT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – OUTSIDE THE WALLS

A simple, MEDITERRANEAN VILLA – is encircled by a high, STONE WALL. A CAT prowls along it.

SOT: DARREN (OS)  So this is the family house?

EXT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – INSIDE THE WALLS

DARREN is led through the villa’s FRONT GARDEN by MATTHEW, Daphne’s son.

SOT: MATTHEW (OS) Yep. This is where I grew up. It's where my mom worked too. Especially in the last years of her life.

VARIOUS ANGLES: GV’s highlight the village of BIDNIGA before returning to.  

VO: I’ve come to the village of Bidnija, just north of the capital, to meet Matthew Caruana Galizia… one of Daphne’s three sons.

INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – KITCHEN - DAY

DARREN & MATTHEW sit at a rustic, KITCHEN TABLE and talk about ghosts.

IV: MATTHEW: My mum was really young when I was born. I think she was 20 or 21. And I really felt like we grew up together  She had so much curiosity. She was interested in so many different subjects. She always took the time to listen to people's stories, no matter who they were.

FILE FOOTAGE: BACKSTORY

(a) A PHOTO ALBUM. The pages turn revealing PICTURES of YOUNG DAPHNE.

(b) A TALK SHOW TV INTERVIEW from 1988

VO: An anti-corruption activist since the age of 18, Daphne would become Malta’s most famous journalist.

ALT:

VO: An anti-corruption activist since the age of 18, Matthew’s Mum would become Malta’s most famous journalist.

MALE PRESENTER: UPSOT: If you were an editor, would you employ Daphne Caruana Galizia?

DAPHNE: Of course I'd employ her. In fact I'd give her a 10 year contract and pay her a lot too [chuckles]

GFX MONTAGE: NEWSPAPER

Headlines and articles float in space – taken from Daphne’s career as a newspaper journalist.

VO: In 1988, Daphne broke the glass ceiling of Maltese journalism… becoming the country’s first female columnist, and the first to publish in her own name.

GFX MONTAGE: BLOG

Headlines and articles float in space - taken from live Running Commentary blog.

VO: After nearly 20 years challenging the patriarchy in print, Daphne founded Running Commentary, her own, investigative blog.

MATTHEW [THOUGHT TRACK] When something that was outrageous happened in this country, and the perpetrators of that in justice were people from the political or business class, they would get away with it. And my mother tired of seeing this over and over again. She simply couldn’t stand it. So she would write about this. She would expose it. She would investigate it.

VO: But with more readers than Malta has citizens, Daphne’s powerful voice, earned her powerful enemies.

RESUME: INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE KITCHEN – DAY.

MATTHEW and DARREN’S chat continues.

DARREN: There were also complications because of her work weren’t there. I mean threats made to her and your family.

MATTHEW: Yes. When I was nine years old and the front door of our house was set on fire Our dog, she was kind of laid out in front of the door with her throat slit, the doorstep was covered in blood Another dog was shot, another one disappeared. So as I grew up I sort of realised what was going on.

DARREN: So she was...would you say she was making enemies?            

MATTHEW: IV  Yes. I would say people in senior positions, in government who are involved in crime with the business class.

DARREN: So she was making powerful people angry.

MATTHEW: Yes. My mother was a serious nuisance to the government That's why they started calling her the witch, the Witch of Bidnija which is where we lived.

FILE FOOTAGE:

(a)         MUSCAT holds a press conference.

(b)         A TV INTERVIEW with Minister CHRIS CARDONA

(c)         Various Shots of DAPHNE

VO: Daphne became a target of both sides of politics but was especially critical of Malta’s Labour Party.

UPSOT: CARDONA: This is not journalism this is character assassination.

VO: The party hit back often, using asset freezes, defamation actions and alleged police intimidation to silence her.

FILE FOOTAGE:

DAPHNE speaks to journalists after her arrest in 2013.

DAPHNE: SOT: I will not sit at home quietly and not write about politics.

VO: She speaks here, after her 2013 arrest for blogging on the eve of Malta’s national elections.

DAPHNE: SOT: I have no evidence that I was arrested at the Labour Party’s request, but it seems to be the logical conclusion.

FILE FOOTAGE:

JOSEPH MUSCAT walks to a gaudy ROOM where he is sworn in a Prime Minister.

A SMALL CROWD applauds as he kisses a CRUCIFIX.

VO: Before her murder, Daphne was said to be working on an explosive piece linking then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to an alleged embezzlement scheme.

INT. DAPHNE’S HOME OFFICE – DAY

MATTHEW stands in the small office. Looking at his mother’s DESK.

TEXT ONS SCREEN APPEARS ABOVE MATTHEW IN WIDE SHOT

“There are crooks everywhere you look, now. The situation is desperate.”

CUT TO BLACK.

VO: On October 16, 2017 she wrote her final blog here…

MATTHEW: UPSOT: I was here I was sitting right there, that’s where I usually sat. She kind of tapped out this last blog post, w hich is the famous one that's quoted everywhere: ‘There are crooks everywhere you look, now. The situation is desperate.’

MATTHEW: UPSOT: She told me I'll be, be back right after this appointment. And when I’m back I can use the car. And it was a few minutes after that, that I, I heard this really loud blast.

BLACK SCREEN.

UPSOT: *A powerful EXPLOSION*

MATTHEW (OS) I knew right away that something terrible had happened.

FADE IN.

FILE FOOTAGE:

A series of news reporters cut together, revealing a CAR BOMB has killed prominent Maltese journalist DAPHNE CAURANA GALIZIA

UPSOT: ALJAZEERA:  Police in Malta have launched a murder investigation into a car bomb attack which killed one of the countries most well known investigative journalists and bloggers.

VO: Half a kilogram of TNT was planted under the driver’s seat of Daphne’s car and denotated by remote control.

VO: She was executed just 100 metres from her home.

ALT:
VO: Half a kilogram of TNT had been planted in Daphne’s car… And denotated by remote control.

VO: The blast threw the wreck over a stone wall and into a nearby field.

VO: Daphne had been executed just 100 metres from her home.

EXT. BOMB SITE – PRESENT DAY

MATTHEW walks the site of the explosion with DARREN.

A wind blows – whispering.

MATTHEW: SOT This area was on fire right here, right here. This is basically where the bomb went off.

MATTHEW And this is the spot where the car ended up… It was right here.

*BEAT*

MATTHEW: People who cared about my mom come here and leave flowers here every now and again… It’s very difficult to come here.

MATTHEW [THOUGHT TRACK]  I think about it every single day. I feel sadness every single day. I mean, my mother was murdered practically in front of my eyes. It’s like livening a nightmare really.

FILE FOOTAGE:

DAPHNE’S SONS and other PALLBEARERS carry her casket from a CHURCH to a BLACK HEARSE. A large CROWD watches.

VO: Daphne’s murder sent shockwaves throughout Malta…

VO: A mother taken from her family… a beloved voice, silenced.

VO: For those left behind it was time to seek Justice.  

EXT. ROADSIDE MEMORIAL – DAY

MATTHEW stands alone at the

FADE TO BLACK.

MATTHEW: [THOUGHT TRACK]  My mum wasn’t murdered because people didn’t like her face. She was murdered because of her investigative work… And I will never be able to rest until the people who are responsible for it or convicted and are spending the rest of their lives in jail.

ACT II – MOTIVES FOR MURDER

FADE IN.

FILE FOOTAGE:

Prime Minister JOSEPH MUSCAT’S PRESS CONFERENCE on the day of Daphne’s murder.

PM MUSCAT: SOT: We are all shocked and my role as Prime Minister is to make sure that people are brought to justice.

VO: Within hours of the murder, a manhunt for the killers was underway…

FILE FOOTAGE:

RTV Archive voxies

October 18, 2017

A REPORTER asks MALTESE CITIZENS for their thoughts on Daphne’s execution.

VO: Meanwhile, rumours began to spread about who or what got Daphne killed.

VOX POP 2 (2:01) If you keep treading on people’s foot, you’re going to get people annoyed at you, so maybe she deserved it

OMITTED

EXT. PRIME MINISTER’S PALACE – NIGHT

A Guard closes the front doors.

VO: The names of powerful politicians were whispered often…

VO: Then just days after the murder, the government suddenly stopped commenting on the case.
  

INT. OFFICE – DAY

DARREN meets with the women of OCCUPY JUSTICE.

SOT: PIA (01:31:19) Something, massive has happened. And nobody's speaking. And the leaders of the country who are supposed to, to be saying, they're there… We are going to make this right. Don't worry, we've got you, flew away. I censored my language.

VO: These women are members of activist group Occupy Justice.

VO: In 2017, they believed the government was attempting to sweep Daphne’s killing under the rug.

CLEMENCE: UPSOT: Once you have a parliament that refuse to discuss such a subject, we knew that, you know, the tactic was okay, now we're gonna stop speaking about it. And you know, people will forget about it. And this is why we said, this is, exactly we don't want to happen is that we need to speak about it until, you know, until there is justice.

UGC: A small group of women hold up a placard outside the PRIME MINISTERS OFFICE. It reads…  “We are still waiting”

VO: Two weeks after the murder, Occupy Justice assembled on the steps of the Presidential palace.
 
VO: At first just a few women, then their numbers grew.

UGC: A larger group of protesters calls for justice for Daphne.

UPSOT: people shouting ‘Justizia Galizia’

VO: Soon it became the

biggest female led protest Malta had ever seen – Daphne becoming the country’s first feminist icon –  as the global Me Too movement erupted.

CLEMENCE: UPSOT: There were so many women coming from so many different walks of life. There were no woman politicians, so this is a woman fight.  

RESUME: INT. OFFICE – DAY

DARREN’S OCCUPY JUSTICE MEETING CONTINUES.

DARREN: Can you unpack that form me a bit, I mean, what was the importance of this being a women-led protest?

CLEMENCE: SOT
Malta, it's still a very macho country where, you know, men look down on women you know? Women have a place, it's in the kitchen. They didn’t go and kill a man journalist they killed a woman journalist. So in our view it was very important for it to be a woman led movement.

Actuality UGC

Pia speech at Daphne memorial

VO: The protests appeared to enrage Malta's political patriarchy, who tried repeatedly to destroy a memorial to Daphne.

PIA: SOT: They tore down our billboards within hours of them going up, we are constantly told that flowers are illegal and that we are in breach of the law by placing them here.

RESUME: INT. OFFICE – DAY

DARREN’S OCCUPY JUSTICE MEETING CONTINUES.

PIA: UPSOT: It’s an interesting way of reacting to someone saying, “a woman was killed, can we do something about it?

CLEMENCE: UPSOT: It was quite an emotional moment, because it’s not only about getting justice for Daphne, it’s getting justice for the country and the truth for the country so that the country can actually learn lessons and apply the drastic change that this country needs.

Actuality UGC

Pia speech at Daphne memorial

VO: The women refused to back down…

PIA: SOT: Daphne started alone… We are not alone.

VO: But the truth wouldn’t come easily. 

EXT. VALETTA – NIGHT.

We see images of Malta, literally in the dark. 

VO: Weeks after the assassination, the Maltese police had yet to make a single arrest.

VO: It fell to Daphne’s family, to begin their own investigation – starting where their mum left off.

RESUME: INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – KITCHEN – DAY

DARREN continues his chat with MATTHEW.

DARREN: So in the months leading up to your mother's murder, what was she investigating?

MATTHEW: SOT So my mom was already investigating suspected corruption in the energy sector in Malta especially around a company called ElectroGas and the people who were shareholders of this company. (

EXT. DRONES – DELIMARA POWER STATION

VO: For years, Daphne had been investigating a deal involving Malta’s only power station.

VO: The Prime Minister had promised cleaner, cheaper energy by converting the station from oil to gas…

VO: He awarded a huge contract to a company called Electrogas to perform the conversion.

FILE FOOTAGE:

PM MUSCAT on the campaign trail, talks about the benefits of converting DELIMARA STATION from oil to gas.

VO: According to Matthew, Daphne believed it was all a scheme to privatize Malta’s energy sector – and hand millions to the Prime Minister’s mates.   

RESUME: INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – KITCHEN – DAY

DARREN continues his chat with MATTHEW.

DARREN: Who were the main figures in the Electrogas project.

MATTHEW: IV: Yorgen Fenech, Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat. Those were the four key players.

GFX MONTAGE:

The main player’s heads are almost MUG SHOTTED on screen with a tagline underneath.

YORGEN FENECH
Electrogas Co-Director - Casino Tycoon

MATTHEW [THOUGHT TRACK] Yorgen Fenech was really the lead of this project. So nothing happened in this project without him and his connections to government.

GFX:

KEITH SCHEMBRI
PM’s Chief Of Staff

MATTHEW: Keith Schembri was the Prime Minister chief of staff but also the Prime Minister's closest friend.

GFX:

KONRAD MIZZI

Energy Minister

MATTHEW: SOT The energy minister, Konrad Mizzi he sort of was functioning as facilitator for deals with Yorgen Fenech.

GFX:

JOSEPH MUSCAT
Prime Minister

MATTHEW: SOT And in turn, there was the Prime Minister himself. Joseph Muscat really made a deal with the devil.

EXT. MALTA – SEEDY

Seedy underbelly shots.

VO: Matthew claims a whistle blower contacted Daphne about the energy deal.

VO: Daphne came to believe the Prime Minister and his allies had accepted bribes from Yorgen Fenech, co-director of Electrogas.

VO: In return, Daphne believed they would hand Fenech control of the power station.

INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – DAY

MATTHEW bashes away at a LAPTOP in this study.

VO: In 2016, Daphne claimed she’d found proof in the infamous Panama papers.

GFX:

Two MUGSHOTS are blurred out.

Two company names TILLGATE & HEARNVILLE appear beneath them.

The MUGSHOTS unblur revealing KEITH SCHEMBRI & KONRAD MIZZI.

MATTHEW: My mother uncovered, the energy minister, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri they had set up secret companies in Panama five days after they were elected to power. I mean, that shows black and white, their sort of corrupt mission.

EXT. VALETTA – DAPHNE’S MEMORIAL – NIGHT

CANDLES at DAPHNE’S MEMORIAL push back the dark. We hear her VOICE – a radio interview where she explains the Panama Papers revelations.

SUPER:
Voice of Daphne Caurana Galizia Radio NZ: Nine To Noon, April 4, 2016

DAPHNE: These companies were set up when they were already in office. So it is quite obvious that they are used for money laundering purposes. So whatever's going into their companies are the fruits of corruption, backhanders kickbacks graft, that kind of thing.

RESUME – GFX:

Added to SCHEMBRI and MIZZI’S graphic is another BLURRED MUGSHOT. Below it, the company name 17 BLACK.

VO: But there was one missing piece. Daphne still needed to identify the owner of a third company, that was set to funnel money to the others… the ominously named 17 Black.

ALT:
VO: But for Daphne, the key to unravelling the corruption scheme, was finding the owner of a third company referenced in the Panama papers…

RESUME: INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – KITCHEN – DAY

DARREN continues his chat with MATTHEW.

MATTHEW: 17 Black was the counterpart company to these companies set up by Mizzi and Schembri in Panama. And that company was supposed to route payments to these companies. Now who owned that company? That was what my mother was about to uncover.

DARREN: Before, she was killed.

MATTHEW:  Yes.

EXT. VALETTA – DUSK

The ocean crashes on the rocks beneath the Fortress Walls.

VO: Matthew believed that this was the secret the murderers were trying to protect.

VO: Following in Daphne’s footsteps, he set out to uncover the owner of the 17 Black and he wasn’t alone.

ALT:
Matthew believed this was the secret that led to his mother’s murder.

EXT. BIDJNIA – DAPHNE MEMORIAL DAY.

CORRINE stands alone at the memorial, as Matthew did earlier.

CORINNE: (10:21:34): // the day Daphne was killed, I heard about it because my nephew called me. // I saw his number and I thought, "This is unusual. He doesn't normally call. //" I picked it up and he said, "You've got to come now. There was a bomb in Mom's car," and I just picked up my keys and ran.

CORRINNE: (10:20:31): // Daphne's murder changed my life in more ways than one. I'm not just dealing with the death of my sister, I'm dealing with the fact that she was murdered, but I'm also dealing with the murder itself. It would be nice to think that // people will be prosecuted and justice will be served, but that's not going to happen if we do nothing. So from the very first moment we knew we had to fight back.

INT. HOUSE – DAY

CORINNE and MATTHEW working at home.

VO: Desperate to untangle the corruption web, Daphne’s family launched a foundation to uncover the truth.

VO: Desperate to unmask the killers, Daphne’s family launched a foundation to get the truth.

CORINNE: If there is impunity in Daphne's murder, the ramifications for Malta are enormous because it means that you literally can get away with murder

CORRINE: IV: (10:14:23): // That's not just dangerous for journalists, it's dangerous for everybody...

GFX: DAPHNE PROJECT SCREENS.

VO: The foundation rallied reporters from around the globe to help work the case.

VO: One group calling themselves The Daphne Project made a damning discovery.

CORRINNE: The Dap hne Project was a group of 45 journalists who got together and picked up her key investigation, which was into Electrogas.

CORRINE: [THOUGHT TRACK] They identified the owner of 17 Black. That's the company Daphne had mentioned and she had realised they key to unravelling the entire network.

RESUME: GFX: SCHEMBRI & MIZZI + 17 BLACK + MYSTERY OWNER

The GFX show the suspected links but leave the face of the owner of 17 BLACK blurred.

The face UNBLURS and is revealed to be YORGEN FENECH.

VO: The Daphne Project uncovered that the owner of 17 Black was Electogas co-director Yorgen Fenech.

VO: They also found evidence that 17 Black was due to pay millions in suspected bribe money to the energy minister and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff.  

MATTHEW: IV: When I heard the news it was like my mother was sitting next to me and we were both kind of like cheering. This is what we wanted for so long.

INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE

CORRINE and MATTHEW continue their work.

VO: For Daphne’s family, the revelation was proof to them that the powerful men had motive for murder.

MATTHEW: IV: That was what the government was really truly afraid of; that my mother would uncover that Yorgen Fenech was the owner of this company and that people were ready to murder each other for money.

VO: 8 weeks after Daphne’s assassination, the case blew wide open.  

FILE FOOTAGE:
Police raid file Dec 4, 2017

MALTESE POLICE raid a warehouse arresting 3 MEN, who appear to be expecting them.

UPSOT: Police Break in!

VO: After tracking two SIM cards, inactive since Daphne’s murder, army and police raided this port Valetta… arresting three men.

GFX: STILLS OF HITMEN

CORINNE: IV: The men who were arrested they were members of the criminal underworld. Vince Muscat. He broke silence when he was in protective custody and began to talk about Daphne’s murder.

GFX: We see several phones, zoom out to hundreds of phones.

TWO phones are highlighted amongst the others.

VO: Muscat, claimed that on the day of the assassination… a second man, Alfred Digiorigo observed Daphne from a ridge opposite her home.

EXT. BIDNIJA – RIDGE – DAY

A RECONTRUCTION sees a man smoking a CIGARETTE and spying on DAPHNE’S HOUSE.

After a beat, he tosses the cigarette and walks away.

UPSOT: Birds and light Traffic noise

VO: Alfred’s DNA was later found on a discarded cigarette at the location.

CCTV:
GEORGE DIGIORGIO makes phone calls from the deck of the MAYA.

VO: Meanwhile, phone pings and CCTV footage are claimed to have placed a third man, Alfred’s brother George on a boat in Valletta’s Grand harbor.

RECON MONTAGE:

(a) DRONE follows DAPHNE’S car.

(b)  RECON cigarette dropped man walks away

VO: Shortly before 3pm, As Daphne drove from her family home… Police allege a coded text message was sent from a phone on George’s boat to a second device planted under Daphne’s car… detonating the bomb.

UPSOT: *EXPLOSION*

OMITTED.

FILE FOOTAGE:

Press conference held to announce the arrests.

UPSOT: MUSCAT Today we had confirmation like we did in the past days that the institutions in the country work and do not look at anyone's face.

VO: The Muscat government celebrated the arrests, but for Daphne’s loved one’s it wasn’t enough…

INT. HOUSE – DAY

CORINNE and MATTHEW working at home.

MATTHEW [THOUGHT TRACK] It was like the police had arrested the bomb, because the hitmen were just tools really. There's a political murder, arrest the Hitman. Case closed.

VO: But the police didn’t stop…

VO: Like Daphne, they chased the money – linking payments to the hitmen back to the alleged mastermind of the entire plot.

OMITTED.

FILE FOOTAGE:

THEUMA and his lawyers walk into a MALTESE COURT.

FLASH CUT TO:

MATTHEW: IV  This journalist woke me up. It must have been at about 5:00 AM and he was shouting, “Wake up, wake up. They arrested Yorgen Fenech.” And after that, everything changed.

STILLS: YORGEN FENECH

VO: Yorgen Fenech, head of the Electrogas monopoly and close friend of the Prime Minister’s Chief of staff, was arrested trying to flee Malta on his yacht.

VO: He was charged with conspiring to murder Daphne.

FILE FOOTAGE:

POLICE guard FENECH’S YACHT at the PORTOMASO MARINA

MATTHEW: IV: Every time we turn on a light, we use the microwave, we boil a kettle of water, we’re funnelling money to the person accused of my mother’s murder. It’s just intolerable.

FILE FOOTAGE:

YORGEN FENECH walking down the street swamped by JOURNALISTS.

VO: Shockingly, Fenech was released on bail… but he’d reportedly rolled over on some of Malta’s top political figures.

UPSOT: FENECH: I am ready and determined for the truth to come out. 

VO: Mobbed by media, Fenech became the biggest story in the country… his revelations unleashing political and social chaos.

ALT: VO: Mobbed by media, Fenech became the biggest story in the country… and his revelations would unleash political and social chaos.

MATTHEW: IV For the people behind my mother's murder, for the people involved in corruption. That arrest triggered the collapse of a house of cards.

BREAK

ACT III – The Dead Slay the Dragon

MONTAGE: RECAP

VO: Arrested for conspiring to murder journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, business-man Yorgen Fennech was about to unleash chaos.

MATTHEW: IV It really did trigger the most turbulence in Malta in two, three generations easily. We have never seen anything like that.

FILE FOOTAGE:

KONRAD MIZZI speaking to journalists.

VO: While in custody, Jorgen Fenech first alleged a previous, failed attempt to assassinate Daphne.

FILE FOOTAGE:

SCHEMBRI walking the halls of PARLIAMENT with the PRIME MINISTER.

MATTHEW: IV (05:04:00): Then // he tried to implicate the prime minister's chief of staff, Keith Schembri.

CORINNE: IV (09:51:13): We know from court testimony that the prime minister's chief of staff was passing on information about the investigation to the man who is now accused of murder. So there was direct and indirect interference.

VO: Schembri strenuously denied the allegations but quickly resigned.

VO: As did Konrad Mizzi, the other minister with ties to Fenech

UGC: PROTEST OUTSIDE PM’S PALACE

MANUEL DELIA leads a protest denouncing Muscat and Schembri

UPSOT – PROTEST – Muscat must get out, Schembri must get out!

VO: With the Prime Ministers right hand men, allegedly part of the murder plot, protestors took to the street’s demanding Muscat’s resignation.

FILE FOOTAGE:

A full meeting of the E.U Parliament

SUPER: SOPHIA IN ‘T VELD

            Head of EU Fact finding  

            mission

VO: With the Maltese government facing a constitutional and political crisis, the E.U quickly condemned the whole saga…  

UPSOT: SOPHIA IN ‘T VELD: We will make sure that justice is done and that the truth will come to light.

VO: The Muscat government was hanging by a thread.

INT. HOUSE – DAY

DARREN sits and talks with MATTHEW & CORRINE.

DARREN: What kind of pressure was building on Joseph Muscat at that point?

MATTHEW: IV: it became simply impossible for Muscat to hold onto power. And I think this is why he really did not want the investigation into my mother’s murder to come to its logical conclusion, because he must have known that Fenech was involved in this way

CORINNE: The pressure was so intense that what we thought was impossible actually happened.

FILE FOOTAGE:

PRESS CONFERENCE and AFTERMATH of MUSCAT’S resignation.

UPSOT: MUSCAT: I will resign as the leader of the Labour Party. In the days after, I will resign as the prime minister.

VO: Facing the Electrogas scandal and claims he’d helped his friends cover up a murder, Joseph Muscat finally stepped down.

MATTHEW: IV: It was a huge moment. This is why he, he really did not want the investigation into my mother’s murder to come to its logical conclusion. Because he knew that it would cause irreparable harm to his own ambitions. Joseph Muscat set out to deceive Malta. But after that point there was no going back for him. The sort of, the spell was broken.

FILE FOOTAGE: MONTAGE

We see JOSEPH MUSCAT’S many public appearances while campaigning and in office.

We get the sense that his, will be legacy of shame.

VO: But despite the allegations, Muscat has not been charged in connection with the energy deal or Daphne’s murder.

RESUME: INT. HOUSE – DAY

DARREN sits and talks with MATTHEW & CORRINE.

SLO MO: CU – MUSCATS FACE

CUT TO BLACK.

DARREN: So what questions now do you think Joseph Muscat still needs to answer to the Maltese public and to your family?

IV: MATTHEW: He needs to answer the question of what he knew about my mother’s murder and from which point. But I think he also needs to come clean about his role in the corrupt deals that led to my mother’s murder. He has no future. He has no political future. He has no hope of having a legitimate career ever. So, the only way he can get any kind of redemption is by coming clean. This is what he has to do.

CODA – The crimes of the living

FADE IN.

TEXT ON SCREEN: 4 YEARS LATER

VO: In death, Daphne brought down a political empire.

VO: But four years after the killing, the case isn’t closed.

DARREN PTC

VO - The alleged mastermind Yorgen Fenech is still awaiting trial along with two of the alleged hitmen.

PTC – T hose in power when Daphne was killed have stepped down and faded from public view

It’s still up to activists to keep Daphne’s memory alive – and push for justice

INT. FLOWER SHOP – DUSK

ANN and a FRIEND browse the range of simple flowers in the simple shop.

UPSOT: ANN: I think we’ll stick with the poinsettias

FRIEND: Will 8 be enough?

ANN: Yes I think so

VO: Ann and her friends have a simple job, which they believe will one day, save the country.

EXT. DAPHNE’S MEMORIAL – NIGHT.

ANN and her FRIEND lay FLOWERS and LIGHT CANDLES at a shrine to DAPHNE in front of Malta’s FEDERAL COURT.

Many more MOURNERS join them…

ANN (13:08:42): // We have been taking  care of the [Daphne] Memorial for four years (12:50:31): // we make it beautiful because that thing was a person, love, beauty,

EXT. DAPHNE’S MEMORIAL – NIGHT.

An ORRATOR addresses the crowd.

UPSOT: Good evening my friends and thank you for being her.  

VO: The memorial stands opposite Malta’s Law Courts.

VO: On the 16^th of every month Daphne’s supporters gather here to continue her fight…

UPSOT: We will continue to fight so her death will not be in vain.

VO: Their lobbying led to a public inquiry which last year, ruled that the Maltese State was responsible for Daphne’s murder.

CORRINE: IV (10:01:24): //, The final report is several hundred pages long. It documents all the horror of the situation Malta found itself in. They very clearly state that Malta was accelerating towards becoming a mafia state and that it was only stopped because of Daphne’s murder and the backlash it caused.  

VO: The report made recommendations on how to clean up corruption in government.

VO: But it’s been largely ignored by the new Maltese Parliament.

Corinne (10:06:41): // So we have another fight on our hands. We've got to push for those recommendations to be implemented because // we want to see // that corruption and bad governance are addressed effectively// Otherwise, we're back in a situation where journalists are working in an unsafe environment, and there is continuing impunity for what they expose. That has to change.

EXT. VIGIL – LATER

MUM, DAD and a YOUNG GIRL light a candle for Daphne and lay it on the memorial. .

VO: Any change will come too late for Daphne, but may save the next generation of journalists.

YOUNG GIRL: UPSOT:

Daphne used to say the truth. Without her, we almost knew nothing, so… So it’s important to know what will happen when I will be older.

EXT. VALETTA – NIGHT

DARREN walks the shady back streets of the capital. The boy from the beginning, grown up.

VO: When I was Beatrice’s age, I’d come to visit family in Malta.

VO: Unlike her, I got to grow up in Australia, where press freedoms are increasingly under attack - but journalists don’t pay for the truth with their lives.

VO: Not yet anyway

MATTHEW: Governments all over the world are targeting journalists in the same way the government in Malta targeted my mother, When you see a journalist being harassed or attacked. It's a sign that something is very badly wrong with our societies.  We need to do something to stop it.

EXT. DAPHNE’S MEMORIAL

The CROWD raise their hands in the air making the shape of V – the symbol of VICTORY.

CUT TO BLACK.

VO: Daphne believed that the pen was mightier than the sword. 

VO: I hope Malta can one day show the world, that the old saying is still ss true.  

TEXT ON SCREEN:

55 journalists were killed worldwide in 2021

Two-thirds in countries with no active conflicts.

Joseph Muscat, Yorgen Fenech, Keith Schembri, & Konrad Mizzi deny all allegations relating to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the Electrogas deal.

VISION

AUDIO

TEXT ON SCREEN:

It’s true that life is unfair

and that much of it can’t be helped.

But where I can do anything to avoid unfairness

or to set it straight…

I will.

Daphne Caruana Galizia

1964-2017

EST. DRONE – DAY

We soar along the ocean-beaten walls of a sandstone FORTRESS surrounding the capital city of…

TEXT ON SCREEN: VALETTA, MALTA

A bird, WHISTLES. We discover it’s actually a man selling BIRD WHISTLES. He blows into the small toy, mimicking the bird call.

DARREN sees him then walks by.

FLASH CUT TO:

VO: I spent a lot of time in Malta when I was kid.

ALT: VO: My family is from Malta, I spent a lot of time here when I was a kid.

VHS VIDEO - MALTA

A home video of DARREN in MALTA as a child. He introduces us to the sights around Valetta.

Darren throws on a MALTA CAP, before taking a ride in the back of a TINY CAR.

UPSOT: YOUNG DARREN: We’re back in Malta and we’re at St John’s Cathedral which is right there.

VO: It was always a care-free, sunny, happy place…

UPSOT: WOMAN: Viva Malta!

VO: I knew nothing of Malta’s dark side.

MONTAGE: PARADISE LOST

A rapid montage of dramatic events changes the tone, and shows us a Malta mired in crime and corruption at the highest levels.

UPSOTS: Police Sirens. Arrest Sounds

VO: Behind its postcard looks, Malta is at war with organised crime.

UPSOT: Drug Bust

VO: Drug trafficking, people smuggling and government corruption frequently make headlines…

UPSOT: Protests… Mafia Out!

VO: As citizens take to the streets demanding change...

RESUME: DARREN at FORTRESS - PTC

PTC: I’ve come here to Malta to investigate a murder which shook this country to its core.

TITLES: MURDER IN MALTA

ACT I – THE MURDER OF DAPHNE CARUANA GALIZIA

EXT. REPUBLIC DAY MARCH - DAY

A CROWD gathers to for Republic Day celebrations in Valletta. There’s flags, soldiers, marching, the usual.

UPSOT: SOLDIER: “Form Up!”

PTC: DARREN WATCHING CEREMONY

D3_C1

PTC:
Today is Republic Day in Malta. 47 years ago, it marked the country’s transition to independence from Great Britain

EXT. REPUBLIC DAY MARCH – DAY

DARREN speaks with proud MALTESE folks in the crowd.

DARREN: VOX POP: Are you proud of Malta?

VOX POP 1: Yes, I mean, it’s been 47 years, so yes, I’m very, very proud!

VOX POP 3: I’m very proud and proud of the parliament that work to have our freedom.

EXT. REPUBLIC DAY MARCH – DAY

The PRIME MINISTER’S motorcade deliver’s him to the parade.

SOLDIERS unfurl the MALTESE FLAG and the NATIONAL ANTHEM begins.

VO: Many have come to revel in the patriotism and pride…

VO: But during the national anthem, a few stay silent and offer this gesture…

EXT. REPUBLIC DAY MARCH – CONT’D

DARREN approaches TWO WOMEN holding their hands in the air - making a V SYMBOL with their fingers.  

DARREN: I just saw you guys make this symbol with your fingers during the anthem, what does that mean?

SOT: CHRISTINE: It’s the sign of victory we do during the national anthem, it’s the sign we do in our vigils every month.

SOT: ANN: It’s a signal to the general population that all is not well in this country.

EXT. CHURCH – BELL TOWER – LATER

Metal hits ancient metal, sending a wave of sound from the ancient tower across Valetta…

UPSOT: Church bells ring

VO: The murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia is one of Malta’s most infamous crimes.

ALT:
VO: The women are talking about the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia - one of Malta’s most infamous crimes.

UPSOT: Church bells ring

VO: The story is the stuff of Shakespearean tragedy… a dark tale of powerful men, seemingly corrupted by their own greed.

INT/EXT. CAR – DAY

DARREN leaves the VALETTA – heading to the countryside.

VO: Daphne terrified Malta’s ruling class…

VO: But who was she? And who conspired to kill her? 

EXT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – OUTSIDE THE WALLS

A simple, MEDITERRANEAN VILLA – is encircled by a high, STONE WALL. A CAT prowls along it.

SOT: DARREN (OS)  So this is the family house?

EXT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – INSIDE THE WALLS

DARREN is led through the villa’s FRONT GARDEN by MATTHEW, Daphne’s son.

SOT: MATTHEW (OS) Yep. This is where I grew up. It's where my mom worked too. Especially in the last years of her life.

VARIOUS ANGLES: GV’s highlight the village of BIDNIGA before returning to.  

VO: I’ve come to the village of Bidnija, just north of the capital, to meet Matthew Caruana Galizia… one of Daphne’s three sons.

INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – KITCHEN - DAY

DARREN & MATTHEW sit at a rustic, KITCHEN TABLE and talk about ghosts.

IV: MATTHEW: My mum was really young when I was born. I think she was 20 or 21. And I really felt like we grew up together  She had so much curiosity. She was interested in so many different subjects. She always took the time to listen to people's stories, no matter who they were.

FILE FOOTAGE: BACKSTORY

(a) A PHOTO ALBUM. The pages turn revealing PICTURES of YOUNG DAPHNE.

(b) A TALK SHOW TV INTERVIEW from 1988

VO: An anti-corruption activist since the age of 18, Daphne would become Malta’s most famous journalist.

ALT:

VO: An anti-corruption activist since the age of 18, Matthew’s Mum would become Malta’s most famous journalist.

MALE PRESENTER: UPSOT: If you were an editor, would you employ Daphne Caruana Galizia?

DAPHNE: Of course I'd employ her. In fact I'd give her a 10 year contract and pay her a lot too [chuckles]

GFX MONTAGE: NEWSPAPER

Headlines and articles float in space – taken from Daphne’s career as a newspaper journalist.

VO: In 1988, Daphne broke the glass ceiling of Maltese journalism… becoming the country’s first female columnist, and the first to publish in her own name.

GFX MONTAGE: BLOG

Headlines and articles float in space - taken from live Running Commentary blog.

VO: After nearly 20 years challenging the patriarchy in print, Daphne founded Running Commentary, her own, investigative blog.

MATTHEW [THOUGHT TRACK] When something that was outrageous happened in this country, and the perpetrators of that in justice were people from the political or business class, they would get away with it. And my mother tired of seeing this over and over again. She simply couldn’t stand it. So she would write about this. She would expose it. She would investigate it.

VO: But with more readers than Malta has citizens, Daphne’s powerful voice, earned her powerful enemies.

RESUME: INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE KITCHEN – DAY.

MATTHEW and DARREN’S chat continues.

DARREN: There were also complications because of her work weren’t there. I mean threats made to her and your family.

MATTHEW: Yes. When I was nine years old and the front door of our house was set on fire Our dog, she was kind of laid out in front of the door with her throat slit, the doorstep was covered in blood Another dog was shot, another one disappeared. So as I grew up I sort of realised what was going on.

DARREN: So she was...would you say she was making enemies?            

MATTHEW: IV  Yes. I would say people in senior positions, in government who are involved in crime with the business class.

DARREN: So she was making powerful people angry.

MATTHEW: Yes. My mother was a serious nuisance to the government That's why they started calling her the witch, the Witch of Bidnija which is where we lived.

FILE FOOTAGE:

(a)         MUSCAT holds a press conference.

(b)         A TV INTERVIEW with Minister CHRIS CARDONA

(c)         Various Shots of DAPHNE

VO: Daphne became a target of both sides of politics but was especially critical of Malta’s Labour Party.

UPSOT: CARDONA: This is not journalism this is character assassination.

VO: The party hit back often, using asset freezes, defamation actions and alleged police intimidation to silence her.

FILE FOOTAGE:

DAPHNE speaks to journalists after her arrest in 2013.

DAPHNE: SOT: I will not sit at home quietly and not write about politics.

VO: She speaks here, after her 2013 arrest for blogging on the eve of Malta’s national elections.

DAPHNE: SOT: I have no evidence that I was arrested at the Labour Party’s request, but it seems to be the logical conclusion.

FILE FOOTAGE:

JOSEPH MUSCAT walks to a gaudy ROOM where he is sworn in a Prime Minister.

A SMALL CROWD applauds as he kisses a CRUCIFIX.

VO: Before her murder, Daphne was said to be working on an explosive piece linking then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to an alleged embezzlement scheme.

INT. DAPHNE’S HOME OFFICE – DAY

MATTHEW stands in the small office. Looking at his mother’s DESK.

TEXT ONS SCREEN APPEARS ABOVE MATTHEW IN WIDE SHOT

“There are crooks everywhere you look, now. The situation is desperate.”

CUT TO BLACK.

VO: On October 16, 2017 she wrote her final blog here…

MATTHEW: UPSOT: I was here I was sitting right there, that’s where I usually sat. She kind of tapped out this last blog post, w hich is the famous one that's quoted everywhere: ‘There are crooks everywhere you look, now. The situation is desperate.’

MATTHEW: UPSOT: She told me I'll be, be back right after this appointment. And when I’m back I can use the car. And it was a few minutes after that, that I, I heard this really loud blast.

BLACK SCREEN.

UPSOT: *A powerful EXPLOSION*

MATTHEW (OS) I knew right away that something terrible had happened.

FADE IN.

FILE FOOTAGE:

A series of news reporters cut together, revealing a CAR BOMB has killed prominent Maltese journalist DAPHNE CAURANA GALIZIA

UPSOT: ALJAZEERA:  Police in Malta have launched a murder investigation into a car bomb attack which killed one of the countries most well known investigative journalists and bloggers.

VO: Half a kilogram of TNT was planted under the driver’s seat of Daphne’s car and denotated by remote control.

VO: She was executed just 100 metres from her home.

ALT:
VO: Half a kilogram of TNT had been planted in Daphne’s car… And denotated by remote control.

VO: The blast threw the wreck over a stone wall and into a nearby field.

VO: Daphne had been executed just 100 metres from her home.

EXT. BOMB SITE – PRESENT DAY

MATTHEW walks the site of the explosion with DARREN.

A wind blows – whispering.

MATTHEW: SOT This area was on fire right here, right here. This is basically where the bomb went off.

MATTHEW And this is the spot where the car ended up… It was right here.

*BEAT*

MATTHEW: People who cared about my mom come here and leave flowers here every now and again… It’s very difficult to come here.

MATTHEW [THOUGHT TRACK]  I think about it every single day. I feel sadness every single day. I mean, my mother was murdered practically in front of my eyes. It’s like livening a nightmare really.

FILE FOOTAGE:

DAPHNE’S SONS and other PALLBEARERS carry her casket from a CHURCH to a BLACK HEARSE. A large CROWD watches.

VO: Daphne’s murder sent shockwaves throughout Malta…

VO: A mother taken from her family… a beloved voice, silenced.

VO: For those left behind it was time to seek Justice.  

EXT. ROADSIDE MEMORIAL – DAY

MATTHEW stands alone at the

FADE TO BLACK.

MATTHEW: [THOUGHT TRACK]  My mum wasn’t murdered because people didn’t like her face. She was murdered because of her investigative work… And I will never be able to rest until the people who are responsible for it or convicted and are spending the rest of their lives in jail.

ACT II – MOTIVES FOR MURDER

FADE IN.

FILE FOOTAGE:

Prime Minister JOSEPH MUSCAT’S PRESS CONFERENCE on the day of Daphne’s murder.

PM MUSCAT: SOT: We are all shocked and my role as Prime Minister is to make sure that people are brought to justice.

VO: Within hours of the murder, a manhunt for the killers was underway…

FILE FOOTAGE:

RTV Archive voxies

October 18, 2017

A REPORTER asks MALTESE CITIZENS for their thoughts on Daphne’s execution.

VO: Meanwhile, rumours began to spread about who or what got Daphne killed.

VOX POP 2 (2:01) If you keep treading on people’s foot, you’re going to get people annoyed at you, so maybe she deserved it

OMITTED

EXT. PRIME MINISTER’S PALACE – NIGHT

A Guard closes the front doors.

VO: The names of powerful politicians were whispered often…

VO: Then just days after the murder, the government suddenly stopped commenting on the case.
  

INT. OFFICE – DAY

DARREN meets with the women of OCCUPY JUSTICE.

SOT: PIA (01:31:19) Something, massive has happened. And nobody's speaking. And the leaders of the country who are supposed to, to be saying, they're there… We are going to make this right. Don't worry, we've got you, flew away. I censored my language.

VO: These women are members of activist group Occupy Justice.

VO: In 2017, they believed the government was attempting to sweep Daphne’s killing under the rug.

CLEMENCE: UPSOT: Once you have a parliament that refuse to discuss such a subject, we knew that, you know, the tactic was okay, now we're gonna stop speaking about it. And you know, people will forget about it. And this is why we said, this is, exactly we don't want to happen is that we need to speak about it until, you know, until there is justice.

UGC: A small group of women hold up a placard outside the PRIME MINISTERS OFFICE. It reads…  “We are still waiting”

VO: Two weeks after the murder, Occupy Justice assembled on the steps of the Presidential palace.
 
VO: At first just a few women, then their numbers grew.

UGC: A larger group of protesters calls for justice for Daphne.

UPSOT: people shouting ‘Justizia Galizia’

VO: Soon it became the

biggest female led protest Malta had ever seen – Daphne becoming the country’s first feminist icon –  as the global Me Too movement erupted.

CLEMENCE: UPSOT: There were so many women coming from so many different walks of life. There were no woman politicians, so this is a woman fight.  

RESUME: INT. OFFICE – DAY

DARREN’S OCCUPY JUSTICE MEETING CONTINUES.

DARREN: Can you unpack that form me a bit, I mean, what was the importance of this being a women-led protest?

CLEMENCE: SOT
Malta, it's still a very macho country where, you know, men look down on women you know? Women have a place, it's in the kitchen. They didn’t go and kill a man journalist they killed a woman journalist. So in our view it was very important for it to be a woman led movement.

Actuality UGC

Pia speech at Daphne memorial

VO: The protests appeared to enrage Malta's political patriarchy, who tried repeatedly to destroy a memorial to Daphne.

PIA: SOT: They tore down our billboards within hours of them going up, we are constantly told that flowers are illegal and that we are in breach of the law by placing them here.

RESUME: INT. OFFICE – DAY

DARREN’S OCCUPY JUSTICE MEETING CONTINUES.

PIA: UPSOT: It’s an interesting way of reacting to someone saying, “a woman was killed, can we do something about it?

CLEMENCE: UPSOT: It was quite an emotional moment, because it’s not only about getting justice for Daphne, it’s getting justice for the country and the truth for the country so that the country can actually learn lessons and apply the drastic change that this country needs.

Actuality UGC

Pia speech at Daphne memorial

VO: The women refused to back down…

PIA: SOT: Daphne started alone… We are not alone.

VO: But the truth wouldn’t come easily. 

EXT. VALETTA – NIGHT.

We see images of Malta, literally in the dark. 

VO: Weeks after the assassination, the Maltese police had yet to make a single arrest.

VO: It fell to Daphne’s family, to begin their own investigation – starting where their mum left off.

RESUME: INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – KITCHEN – DAY

DARREN continues his chat with MATTHEW.

DARREN: So in the months leading up to your mother's murder, what was she investigating?

MATTHEW: SOT So my mom was already investigating suspected corruption in the energy sector in Malta especially around a company called ElectroGas and the people who were shareholders of this company. (

EXT. DRONES – DELIMARA POWER STATION

VO: For years, Daphne had been investigating a deal involving Malta’s only power station.

VO: The Prime Minister had promised cleaner, cheaper energy by converting the station from oil to gas…

VO: He awarded a huge contract to a company called Electrogas to perform the conversion.

FILE FOOTAGE:

PM MUSCAT on the campaign trail, talks about the benefits of converting DELIMARA STATION from oil to gas.

VO: According to Matthew, Daphne believed it was all a scheme to privatize Malta’s energy sector – and hand millions to the Prime Minister’s mates.   

RESUME: INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – KITCHEN – DAY

DARREN continues his chat with MATTHEW.

DARREN: Who were the main figures in the Electrogas project.

MATTHEW: IV: Yorgen Fenech, Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat. Those were the four key players.

GFX MONTAGE:

The main player’s heads are almost MUG SHOTTED on screen with a tagline underneath.

YORGEN FENECH
Electrogas Co-Director - Casino Tycoon

MATTHEW [THOUGHT TRACK] Yorgen Fenech was really the lead of this project. So nothing happened in this project without him and his connections to government.

GFX:

KEITH SCHEMBRI
PM’s Chief Of Staff

MATTHEW: Keith Schembri was the Prime Minister chief of staff but also the Prime Minister's closest friend.

GFX:

KONRAD MIZZI

Energy Minister

MATTHEW: SOT The energy minister, Konrad Mizzi he sort of was functioning as facilitator for deals with Yorgen Fenech.

GFX:

JOSEPH MUSCAT
Prime Minister

MATTHEW: SOT And in turn, there was the Prime Minister himself. Joseph Muscat really made a deal with the devil.

EXT. MALTA – SEEDY

Seedy underbelly shots.

VO: Matthew claims a whistle blower contacted Daphne about the energy deal.

VO: Daphne came to believe the Prime Minister and his allies had accepted bribes from Yorgen Fenech, co-director of Electrogas.

VO: In return, Daphne believed they would hand Fenech control of the power station.

INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – DAY

MATTHEW bashes away at a LAPTOP in this study.

VO: In 2016, Daphne claimed she’d found proof in the infamous Panama papers.

GFX:

Two MUGSHOTS are blurred out.

Two company names TILLGATE & HEARNVILLE appear beneath them.

The MUGSHOTS unblur revealing KEITH SCHEMBRI & KONRAD MIZZI.

MATTHEW: My mother uncovered, the energy minister, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri they had set up secret companies in Panama five days after they were elected to power. I mean, that shows black and white, their sort of corrupt mission.

EXT. VALETTA – DAPHNE’S MEMORIAL – NIGHT

CANDLES at DAPHNE’S MEMORIAL push back the dark. We hear her VOICE – a radio interview where she explains the Panama Papers revelations.

SUPER:
Voice of Daphne Caurana Galizia Radio NZ: Nine To Noon, April 4, 2016

DAPHNE: These companies were set up when they were already in office. So it is quite obvious that they are used for money laundering purposes. So whatever's going into their companies are the fruits of corruption, backhanders kickbacks graft, that kind of thing.

RESUME – GFX:

Added to SCHEMBRI and MIZZI’S graphic is another BLURRED MUGSHOT. Below it, the company name 17 BLACK.

VO: But there was one missing piece. Daphne still needed to identify the owner of a third company, that was set to funnel money to the others… the ominously named 17 Black.

ALT:
VO: But for Daphne, the key to unravelling the corruption scheme, was finding the owner of a third company referenced in the Panama papers…

RESUME: INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE – KITCHEN – DAY

DARREN continues his chat with MATTHEW.

MATTHEW: 17 Black was the counterpart company to these companies set up by Mizzi and Schembri in Panama. And that company was supposed to route payments to these companies. Now who owned that company? That was what my mother was about to uncover.

DARREN: Before, she was killed.

MATTHEW:  Yes.

EXT. VALETTA – DUSK

The ocean crashes on the rocks beneath the Fortress Walls.

VO: Matthew believed that this was the secret the murderers were trying to protect.

VO: Following in Daphne’s footsteps, he set out to uncover the owner of the 17 Black and he wasn’t alone.

ALT:
Matthew believed this was the secret that led to his mother’s murder.

EXT. BIDJNIA – DAPHNE MEMORIAL DAY.

CORRINE stands alone at the memorial, as Matthew did earlier.

CORINNE: (10:21:34): // the day Daphne was killed, I heard about it because my nephew called me. // I saw his number and I thought, "This is unusual. He doesn't normally call. //" I picked it up and he said, "You've got to come now. There was a bomb in Mom's car," and I just picked up my keys and ran.

CORRINNE: (10:20:31): // Daphne's murder changed my life in more ways than one. I'm not just dealing with the death of my sister, I'm dealing with the fact that she was murdered, but I'm also dealing with the murder itself. It would be nice to think that // people will be prosecuted and justice will be served, but that's not going to happen if we do nothing. So from the very first moment we knew we had to fight back.

INT. HOUSE – DAY

CORINNE and MATTHEW working at home.

VO: Desperate to untangle the corruption web, Daphne’s family launched a foundation to uncover the truth.

VO: Desperate to unmask the killers, Daphne’s family launched a foundation to get the truth.

CORINNE: If there is impunity in Daphne's murder, the ramifications for Malta are enormous because it means that you literally can get away with murder

CORRINE: IV: (10:14:23): // That's not just dangerous for journalists, it's dangerous for everybody...

GFX: DAPHNE PROJECT SCREENS.

VO: The foundation rallied reporters from around the globe to help work the case.

VO: One group calling themselves The Daphne Project made a damning discovery.

CORRINNE: The Dap hne Project was a group of 45 journalists who got together and picked up her key investigation, which was into Electrogas.

CORRINE: [THOUGHT TRACK] They identified the owner of 17 Black. That's the company Daphne had mentioned and she had realised they key to unravelling the entire network.

RESUME: GFX: SCHEMBRI & MIZZI + 17 BLACK + MYSTERY OWNER

The GFX show the suspected links but leave the face of the owner of 17 BLACK blurred.

The face UNBLURS and is revealed to be YORGEN FENECH.

VO: The Daphne Project uncovered that the owner of 17 Black was Electogas co-director Yorgen Fenech.

VO: They also found evidence that 17 Black was due to pay millions in suspected bribe money to the energy minister and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff.  

MATTHEW: IV: When I heard the news it was like my mother was sitting next to me and we were both kind of like cheering. This is what we wanted for so long.

INT. DAPHNE’S HOUSE

CORRINE and MATTHEW continue their work.

VO: For Daphne’s family, the revelation was proof to them that the powerful men had motive for murder.

MATTHEW: IV: That was what the government was really truly afraid of; that my mother would uncover that Yorgen Fenech was the owner of this company and that people were ready to murder each other for money.

VO: 8 weeks after Daphne’s assassination, the case blew wide open.  

FILE FOOTAGE:
Police raid file Dec 4, 2017

MALTESE POLICE raid a warehouse arresting 3 MEN, who appear to be expecting them.

UPSOT: Police Break in!

VO: After tracking two SIM cards, inactive since Daphne’s murder, army and police raided this port Valetta… arresting three men.

GFX: STILLS OF HITMEN

CORINNE: IV: The men who were arrested they were members of the criminal underworld. Vince Muscat. He broke silence when he was in protective custody and began to talk about Daphne’s murder.

GFX: We see several phones, zoom out to hundreds of phones.

TWO phones are highlighted amongst the others.

VO: Muscat, claimed that on the day of the assassination… a second man, Alfred Digiorigo observed Daphne from a ridge opposite her home.

EXT. BIDNIJA – RIDGE – DAY

A RECONTRUCTION sees a man smoking a CIGARETTE and spying on DAPHNE’S HOUSE.

After a beat, he tosses the cigarette and walks away.

UPSOT: Birds and light Traffic noise

VO: Alfred’s DNA was later found on a discarded cigarette at the location.

CCTV:
GEORGE DIGIORGIO makes phone calls from the deck of the MAYA.

VO: Meanwhile, phone pings and CCTV footage are claimed to have placed a third man, Alfred’s brother George on a boat in Valletta’s Grand harbor.

RECON MONTAGE:

(a) DRONE follows DAPHNE’S car.

(b)  RECON cigarette dropped man walks away

VO: Shortly before 3pm, As Daphne drove from her family home… Police allege a coded text message was sent from a phone on George’s boat to a second device planted under Daphne’s car… detonating the bomb.

UPSOT: *EXPLOSION*

OMITTED.

FILE FOOTAGE:

Press conference held to announce the arrests.

UPSOT: MUSCAT Today we had confirmation like we did in the past days that the institutions in the country work and do not look at anyone's face.

VO: The Muscat government celebrated the arrests, but for Daphne’s loved one’s it wasn’t enough…

INT. HOUSE – DAY

CORINNE and MATTHEW working at home.

MATTHEW [THOUGHT TRACK] It was like the police had arrested the bomb, because the hitmen were just tools really. There's a political murder, arrest the Hitman. Case closed.

VO: But the police didn’t stop…

VO: Like Daphne, they chased the money – linking payments to the hitmen back to the alleged mastermind of the entire plot.

OMITTED.

FILE FOOTAGE:

THEUMA and his lawyers walk into a MALTESE COURT.

FLASH CUT TO:

MATTHEW: IV  This journalist woke me up. It must have been at about 5:00 AM and he was shouting, “Wake up, wake up. They arrested Yorgen Fenech.” And after that, everything changed.

STILLS: YORGEN FENECH

VO: Yorgen Fenech, head of the Electrogas monopoly and close friend of the Prime Minister’s Chief of staff, was arrested trying to flee Malta on his yacht.

VO: He was charged with conspiring to murder Daphne.

FILE FOOTAGE:

POLICE guard FENECH’S YACHT at the PORTOMASO MARINA

MATTHEW: IV: Every time we turn on a light, we use the microwave, we boil a kettle of water, we’re funnelling money to the person accused of my mother’s murder. It’s just intolerable.

FILE FOOTAGE:

YORGEN FENECH walking down the street swamped by JOURNALISTS.

VO: Shockingly, Fenech was released on bail… but he’d reportedly rolled over on some of Malta’s top political figures.

UPSOT: FENECH: I am ready and determined for the truth to come out. 

VO: Mobbed by media, Fenech became the biggest story in the country… his revelations unleashing political and social chaos.

ALT: VO: Mobbed by media, Fenech became the biggest story in the country… and his revelations would unleash political and social chaos.

MATTHEW: IV For the people behind my mother's murder, for the people involved in corruption. That arrest triggered the collapse of a house of cards.

BREAK

ACT III – The Dead Slay the Dragon

MONTAGE: RECAP

VO: Arrested for conspiring to murder journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, business-man Yorgen Fennech was about to unleash chaos.

MATTHEW: IV It really did trigger the most turbulence in Malta in two, three generations easily. We have never seen anything like that.

FILE FOOTAGE:

KONRAD MIZZI speaking to journalists.

VO: While in custody, Jorgen Fenech first alleged a previous, failed attempt to assassinate Daphne.

FILE FOOTAGE:

SCHEMBRI walking the halls of PARLIAMENT with the PRIME MINISTER.

MATTHEW: IV (05:04:00): Then // he tried to implicate the prime minister's chief of staff, Keith Schembri.

CORINNE: IV (09:51:13): We know from court testimony that the prime minister's chief of staff was passing on information about the investigation to the man who is now accused of murder. So there was direct and indirect interference.

VO: Schembri strenuously denied the allegations but quickly resigned.

VO: As did Konrad Mizzi, the other minister with ties to Fenech

UGC: PROTEST OUTSIDE PM’S PALACE

MANUEL DELIA leads a protest denouncing Muscat and Schembri

UPSOT – PROTEST – Muscat must get out, Schembri must get out!

VO: With the Prime Ministers right hand men, allegedly part of the murder plot, protestors took to the street’s demanding Muscat’s resignation.

FILE FOOTAGE:

A full meeting of the E.U Parliament

SUPER: SOPHIA IN ‘T VELD

            Head of EU Fact finding  

            mission

VO: With the Maltese government facing a constitutional and political crisis, the E.U quickly condemned the whole saga…  

UPSOT: SOPHIA IN ‘T VELD: We will make sure that justice is done and that the truth will come to light.

VO: The Muscat government was hanging by a thread.

INT. HOUSE – DAY

DARREN sits and talks with MATTHEW & CORRINE.

DARREN: What kind of pressure was building on Joseph Muscat at that point?

MATTHEW: IV: it became simply impossible for Muscat to hold onto power. And I think this is why he really did not want the investigation into my mother’s murder to come to its logical conclusion, because he must have known that Fenech was involved in this way

CORINNE: The pressure was so intense that what we thought was impossible actually happened.

FILE FOOTAGE:

PRESS CONFERENCE and AFTERMATH of MUSCAT’S resignation.

UPSOT: MUSCAT: I will resign as the leader of the Labour Party. In the days after, I will resign as the prime minister.

VO: Facing the Electrogas scandal and claims he’d helped his friends cover up a murder, Joseph Muscat finally stepped down.

MATTHEW: IV: It was a huge moment. This is why he, he really did not want the investigation into my mother’s murder to come to its logical conclusion. Because he knew that it would cause irreparable harm to his own ambitions. Joseph Muscat set out to deceive Malta. But after that point there was no going back for him. The sort of, the spell was broken.

FILE FOOTAGE: MONTAGE

We see JOSEPH MUSCAT’S many public appearances while campaigning and in office.

We get the sense that his, will be legacy of shame.

VO: But despite the allegations, Muscat has not been charged in connection with the energy deal or Daphne’s murder.

RESUME: INT. HOUSE – DAY

DARREN sits and talks with MATTHEW & CORRINE.

SLO MO: CU – MUSCATS FACE

CUT TO BLACK.

DARREN: So what questions now do you think Joseph Muscat still needs to answer to the Maltese public and to your family?

IV: MATTHEW: He needs to answer the question of what he knew about my mother’s murder and from which point. But I think he also needs to come clean about his role in the corrupt deals that led to my mother’s murder. He has no future. He has no political future. He has no hope of having a legitimate career ever. So, the only way he can get any kind of redemption is by coming clean. This is what he has to do.

CODA – The crimes of the living

FADE IN.

TEXT ON SCREEN: 4 YEARS LATER

VO: In death, Daphne brought down a political empire.

VO: But four years after the killing, the case isn’t closed.

DARREN PTC

VO - The alleged mastermind Yorgen Fenech is still awaiting trial along with two of the alleged hitmen.

PTC – T hose in power when Daphne was killed have stepped down and faded from public view

It’s still up to activists to keep Daphne’s memory alive – and push for justice

INT. FLOWER SHOP – DUSK

ANN and a FRIEND browse the range of simple flowers in the simple shop.

UPSOT: ANN: I think we’ll stick with the poinsettias

FRIEND: Will 8 be enough?

ANN: Yes I think so

VO: Ann and her friends have a simple job, which they believe will one day, save the country.

EXT. DAPHNE’S MEMORIAL – NIGHT.

ANN and her FRIEND lay FLOWERS and LIGHT CANDLES at a shrine to DAPHNE in front of Malta’s FEDERAL COURT.

Many more MOURNERS join them…

ANN (13:08:42): // We have been taking  care of the [Daphne] Memorial for four years (12:50:31): // we make it beautiful because that thing was a person, love, beauty,

EXT. DAPHNE’S MEMORIAL – NIGHT.

An ORRATOR addresses the crowd.

UPSOT: Good evening my friends and thank you for being her.  

VO: The memorial stands opposite Malta’s Law Courts.

VO: On the 16^th of every month Daphne’s supporters gather here to continue her fight…

UPSOT: We will continue to fight so her death will not be in vain.

VO: Their lobbying led to a public inquiry which last year, ruled that the Maltese State was responsible for Daphne’s murder.

CORRINE: IV (10:01:24): //, The final report is several hundred pages long. It documents all the horror of the situation Malta found itself in. They very clearly state that Malta was accelerating towards becoming a mafia state and that it was only stopped because of Daphne’s murder and the backlash it caused.  

VO: The report made recommendations on how to clean up corruption in government.

VO: But it’s been largely ignored by the new Maltese Parliament.

Corinne (10:06:41): // So we have another fight on our hands. We've got to push for those recommendations to be implemented because // we want to see // that corruption and bad governance are addressed effectively// Otherwise, we're back in a situation where journalists are working in an unsafe environment, and there is continuing impunity for what they expose. That has to change.

EXT. VIGIL – LATER

MUM, DAD and a YOUNG GIRL light a candle for Daphne and lay it on the memorial. .

VO: Any change will come too late for Daphne, but may save the next generation of journalists.

YOUNG GIRL: UPSOT:

Daphne used to say the truth. Without her, we almost knew nothing, so… So it’s important to know what will happen when I will be older.

EXT. VALETTA – NIGHT

DARREN walks the shady back streets of the capital. The boy from the beginning, grown up.

VO: When I was Beatrice’s age, I’d come to visit family in Malta.

VO: Unlike her, I got to grow up in Australia, where press freedoms are increasingly under attack - but journalists don’t pay for the truth with their lives.

VO: Not yet anyway

MATTHEW: Governments all over the world are targeting journalists in the same way the government in Malta targeted my mother, When you see a journalist being harassed or attacked. It's a sign that something is very badly wrong with our societies.  We need to do something to stop it.

EXT. DAPHNE’S MEMORIAL

The CROWD raise their hands in the air making the shape of V – the symbol of VICTORY.

CUT TO BLACK.

VO: Daphne believed that the pen was mightier than the sword. 

VO: I hope Malta can one day show the world, that the old saying is still ss true.  

TEXT ON SCREEN:

55 journalists were killed worldwide in 2021

Two-thirds in countries with no active conflicts.

Joseph Muscat, Yorgen Fenech, Keith Schembri, & Konrad Mizzi deny all allegations relating to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the Electrogas deal.