‘A great gentleman indeed’ – D’Amato Records co-owner shares encounter with celebrity Director

On its first day back in business after a six-week forced closure due to COVID-19 Government restrictions, Malta’s oldest record shop, located in Valletta, got off to a great start.

Anthony D’Amato, Co-owner of D’Amato Records, shares how today’s special guest, film Director Roland Joffé visited the shop with the intention of buying Ennio Morricone records, who composed and produced The Mission. Joffé also directed the 1984 film The Killing Fields, which won three Academy Awards and eight BAFTA awards.

“I was explaining to him that the record he chose contained most of the songs of The Mission, to which he replied ‘I directed it’,” Anthony D’Amato told MaltaCEOs. “I knew who he was but didn’t recognise him!”

Mr D’Amato said that although the shop’s credit card machine wasn’t working after a long idle period, it was a “sigh of relief” to reopen for business today.

“Valletta is coming to life again. We had a good day from a sales perspective, and many old clients came back to pay us a visit,” he explains. “Compared to last week, it’s as though vitamins were pumped into the city.”