Maltese history in animated format

A new animated docufiction TV series is presenting Maltese history and heritage, covering a vast array periods ranging from the megalithic Temple builder period to the French blockade. 

Storja Animalta is produced by Reciprocal, in collaboration with Arts Council Malta under the Kultura TV initiative and Heritage Malta.

A spokesman for Reciprocal told BusinessToday that the viewer is sent to a journey through the ages in a chronological manner which will help build a foundation of some of the most important events and characters of Maltese history.

The idea is not to provide a historical treatise on the subject, but rather to pique the interest of young and old viewers alike, enticing them to learn more about the rich heritage of the Maltese islands.

“Reciprocal was always interested in creative authoring, as luck might have it we encountered the Kultura TV fund and decided to design a project to take advantage of this initiative. Storja Animalta got picked up and the rest, as they say is history, we have spent the best part of the last two years producing this project and using it to build relations with a number of entities for potential future collaborations,” the spokesman said.

“Storja Animalta is the first official production developed by Reciprocal. However, it is worth noting that individually every member of the team has had extensive exposure to different aspects relating to productions of this sort. There is a small project that we had collaborated upon before forming Reciprocal - Ghidli Storja - this project sowed the seeds that grew into Storja Animalta as we know it today.”

Asked by this newspaper what’s next for Reciprocal, he said that the game unfolds in three different segments.

“Every different level comes with its own challenges but we are adamant that this is the correct way forward. Primarily we want to grow Storja Animalta as a dedicated IP to be repackaged and developed for future releases. Secondly we will be starting production of our upcoming new project which is due to air on September 2020. Finally the development of a new IP designed with the aim of being deployable within the international market. All things considered the pathway forward promises to be eventful to say the least.”

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 recount stories spanning from the building 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.

Storja Animalta is aired at 8.30pm every Monday on One TV. The first episode was aired this week.