Mario Philip Azzopardi (born 1950 in Malta, and former resident of Canada) is a television and film director and writer. He has worked on such shows as The Outer Limits, Stargate SG-1 (including its two-hour pilot), and Stargate Atlantis. It should be said that Mario Philip Azzopardi should not be confused with Maltese poet, short story writer and columnist Mario Azzopardi (born 1944), who is also engaged with theatre and directs the Malta Drama Centre (visit www.marioazzopardi.com).

In 1971, while working with the Atturi Theatre Group, he directed Gaġġa [1], presumed to be the first full-length feature filmed entirely in Maltese. The film was transferred to digital format and enhanced, being re-released in Malta in March 2007. [2]

Azzopardi left his native Malta 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.

On his return to Malta in the late 1990s, he spearheaded the creation of Maltese Falcon Productions plc., a state-backed film fund which was intended to promote the creation of a local film industry.

Azzopardi was educated at St Aloysius' College (Birkirkara, Malta), and the Royal University of Malta.

Azzopardi is the father of actresses Lara Azzopardi and Kyra Azzopardi and assistant director Yari Azzopardi.

[edit] Partial filmography

• Gagga (1971)
• Deadline (1981)
• State of Survival (1986)
• Nowhere To Hide (1987)
• Divided Loyalties (1990)
• Palmer's Bones (1998)
• Bone Daddy (1998)
• Total Recall 2070 (television series) (1999)
• Thrill Seekers (2000)
• On Hostile Ground (2000)
• Stiletto Dance (2001)
• Wiseguy
• The Stork Derby (2002)
• Savage Messiah (2002)
• The Wives He Forgot (2006)
• Still Small Voices (2007)
• Lies and Crimes (2007)
• Angela's Eyes
• Stargate: Atlantis
• Jeremiah
• Dinotopia
• The Outer Limits
• Stargate SG-1
• Dead Man's Gun
• F/X: The Series
• Two
• In the Heat of the Night
• Counterstrike
• The Flash
• Night Heat
• E.N.G.

[edit] Partial bibliography

• Naked as Water (poetry collection) (1996)

[edit] External links

• Mario Philip Azzopardi at the Internet Movie Database
• Malta's Who's Who
• Weblo.com - Savage Messiah Still Photo