Mario Philip Azzopardi is a Maltese television and film director and writer
Background
Azzopardi was born in Siggiewi, Malta, but left his native country for Canada in 1978, following a dispute with local censors and theatre authorities who, in 1977, had cancelled his play, Sulari Fuq Strada Stretta, on the grounds that it was too offensive. The play was eventually presented at the Manoel Theatre in January 2008.
Education
Azzopardi was educated at Street Aloysius" College (Birkirkara, Malta), and the Royal University of Malta.
Career
He has worked on such shows as, (including its two-hour pilot), and Stargate Atlantis. In 2008 he directed all eight episodes of the highly acclaimed and award winning Home Box Office Canada/TMN miniseries ZOS: Zone of Separation, which he co created and produced. Mario Philip Azzopardi should not be confused with Maltese poet, short story writer and columnist Mario Azzopardi (born 1944), who is also involved in theatre and directs the Malta Drama Centre.
In 1971, while still a student at the Royal University of Malta, he directed Il-Gaġġa, presumed to be the first full-length feature filmed entirely in Maltese.
Transferred to digital format and enhanced, the film was re-released in Malta in March 2007. Around the same time he assisted Cecil Satariano during the making of "Giuseppi." Azzopardi is married to Therese and has three children, Lara Azzopardi, Kyra Azzopardi and Yari Azzopardi.
Azzopardi courted controversy following comments made on his Facebook page in August 2014, agreeing with the 2001 decision taken by the European Court of Human Rights which had found that Sharia Law was incompatible with Democracy and basic human rights. The V18 foundation issued a press release in which Mr Azzopardi was quoted as having apologized for the possible offence he could have caused by his personal views, expressed on 28 November, more than a year prior to his appointment as Artistic Director, after journalists from The Times of Malta publicised those views while interviewing Doctor Owen Bonnici, the Minister of Culture, the previous day.
This could not be further than the truth.
Only a few years ago, my Home Box Office CANADA television series ZOS: ZONE OF SEPARATION was accused of being too pro Islamic by right wing groups, which I categorically refuse to have anything to do with".
Politics
FROM Mario Philip Azzopardi: "My rant was and always is against those institutions, laws and beliefs that hinder the absolute freedom of expression, human dignity and international equality, buoyed by a central democratic system, which is the political foundation of a modern and just society. All my works, in theatre and film, have mirrored that view and will always endeavor to find ways and means to fight ignorance, extremism and dogma, be it religious, political or social.