Storja Animalta – an innovative animated TV series about Malta’s rich heritage

Heritage Malta is collaborating on a new animated docufiction TV series, entitled Storja Animalta.

Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government Owen Bonnici welcomed this initiative, and said that “this series will present Maltese history in such an innovative way that it will certainly entice viewers to learn more about the rich heritage of the Maltese islands.” He referred to Heritage Malta’s achievements in making history and heritage more available to the public thanks to inventive ways such as senior and student ‘passports’, among others.

Minister Bonnici concluded by saying that the government is investing directly in the culture sector, and that this project will play a vital role in bringing history into Maltese homes.

Based on seven short episodes of around 25 minutes, each episode of this animated docufiction provides the viewer with a self-containing narrative focused on a particular character, group of people, or period. These episodes will recount six stories spanning from the construction of the prehistoric temples more than 5,000 years ago to the occupation of Malta by the French during the years 1798-1800 – 7,000 years of history; temple builders; Phoenician merchants; St Paul’s shipwreck; Norman masters; Ottoman attacks; and the French blockade.

The viewer will be sent on a chronological journey through the ages in order to help build a solid understanding of some of the most important events and characters of Maltese history. The main aim of this series is to entice young and old viewers alike to learn more about the rich heritage of the Maltese Islands. Supplementary information will be shown to complement the story and further illustrate the context of the characters.

To complement this TV series, Heritage Malta has published a colouring book entitled ‘Colouring history – Malta and Gozo through the ages’. The book also includes a short description of the six stories recounted in Storja Animalta. This colouring book can be bought from Heritage Malta’s museum shops.

Storja Animalta is produced by Reciprocal, in collaboration with Arts Council Malta, under the Kultura TV initiative and Heritage Malta. Storja Animalta will be aired at 8.30pm every Monday on One TV, starting from 30 September