 The Jury of the MBA awards in 1998 voted the Best Documentary Award to  A Gentleman from Malta  and issued the following statement: "The Jury was unanimous in its praise of this excellent programme". The Times called it "Almost the documentary of the year.......The editing was first class." "A Gentleman from Malta" is a 50-minute documentary, co-produced between Malta and Austria, which takes a deep look into the personal life and works of the late Francis Ebejer, a renowned Maltese playwright and novelist of international acclaim. International theatre critics described Francis Ebejer as "A man ahead of his time". In 1996 rare and exclusive footage of Ebejer was discovered in Vienna. The tapes, containing unused scenes, had been relegated to the basement of a producer s weekend log-house in the outskirts of the city. The recordings, filmed shortly before his death, showed Ebejer playing himself in a rare attempt to reveal his private life. It was the discovery of this footage that led producer Malcolm Scerri-Ferrante to create this documentary. Over the span of his career, Ebejer wrote more than 50 plays for theatre and television, and his novels have been translated into nine languages including Japanese. He received many awards, both locally and abroad, amongst them France s Medaille d Honeur de la Ville d Avignon. Ebejer explored novel means of expression in dramatic literature. In his works one can trace a fascinating and intriguing development which is to this day debated in various universities across Europe. Despite his achievements Ebejer never postured as the international figure he was, though this lack of self-confidence was thought to actually spur his success. He was known to be an unhappy man with a complex and reserved personality, and his life was marred by tragedy that included the break-up of his marriage and tragic deaths in his family Like many writers, Ebejer used these downfalls as a form of inspiration for his work, but he was to remain an extremely private and introverted character. This documentary explores who Francis Ebejer really was.