An animation showcase of different short short animated movies from Maltese film-makers covering different genres of animation, including children’s animation.

Dalam Valley:
Meg, a young fox, gets separated from her mother and tries to find her way back home. A bat and his friend provide Meg with companionship and comic relief as the trio journeys across the changing landscape of Prehistoric, Ice Age Malta

Philip Pincher:
An innovative comic mini-series currently featured on YouTube. The Pinchers are distinct zombie-like beings, each possessing unique characteristics. Unlike traditional zombies, these creatures appear invulnerable to death, converting their victims through pinches instead of bites. The narrative revolves around Philip, who has undergone the transformation into one of these entities and is gradually adapting to his newfound “lifestyle.”

Neil Zammit:
Neil Zammit studied Art and Graphical Communications at MCAST Art & Design Institute. Then, he specialised in Graphic Design. During his studies, Neil Zammit worked on a part-time basis as a Live Screen Motion Graphics Designer and Animator at PBS. Concurrently, he worked an internship at a local private TV station, Family TV. By the age of 21, Neil was promoted to Head of Quality Control. He was responsible for directing the TV station’s shows, working closely with the award-winning Norbert Friggieri. During his years at Family TV, Neil was also in charge of teaching and training the new employees.

When Family TV closed its doors, Neil was employed by Lighthouse Communications, one of the leading advertising agencies at that time. At Lighthouse, Neil took care of all the on-screen digital graphics, both 3D and 2D. Furthermore, Neil worked on adverts and productions for some of Malta’s most prominent companies, including Alf Mizzi and Sons, Atlas Insurance and Mediterranean Bank. Neil was also entrusted with the graphics of a short movie, funded by the Malta Film Fund, called Daqqet ix-Xita which won awards at various International Film Festivals.

From Lighthouse, Neil moved on to Yellow. He conceived, designed and animated adverts as well as created several short animations intended to advertise Yellow’s app.

Having gained substantial experience in the field, Neil left Yellow and launched his own venture. He joined forces with another two creatives and formed Reciprocal. Neil has co-invented and designed the animation series Għidli Storja, funded by the Malta Arts Council with the help of the NGO Greenhouse.

Neil’s most notable achievement to date is Storja Animalta, a docufiction animated series which he created, animated and directed. This season consisted of seven episodes in Maltese that aired on ONE TV in September 2019. Storja Animalta won the Award for Intellectual Property (2018), awarded by the Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Business and the Medal for Creativity (2018) awarded by the prestigious World Intellectual Property Organisation.

Cut it Out:
Cut It Out is an absurd surrealist character piece that follows Tara, an EOD technician (bomb defuser) who is guided by an authoritative voice to locate and defuse a bomb in a school.

The bomb is unfamiliar to her, and despite her reservations, her supervisor leads her into a strange situation from which she needs to escape.

This is the first short film that I have had the pleasure of writing and directing. I worked with a 9-person team on this project, and my work also included art directing, storyboarding, animatic and editing.

Inez Kristina:
Inez Kristina is a Maltese artist living and working in Denmark. She studied Character Animation at The Animation Workshop which led her to directing her first short film – ‘Cut It Out’. She has also worked with writer Teodor Reljic on the 6-issue comic series Mibdul, which was published by Merlin Publishers. Inez spends her time drawing, painting, and making ceramics, whilst also working in the animation industry.

Somewhere:
Somewhere is a short animation (direction and art by Fabrizio Ellul) and follows Vincent – a researcher at the Halo space Research centre – who makes a detour to a now hostile Planet Earth to retrieve an item.
The short animation would not have been possible without the support of Malta Film Commission

Fabrizio Ellul:
Fabrizio Ellul is a visual artists who has held a number of exhibition, both solo and collective. He mainly worked in the Fine Arts traditions until he recently switched to digital art with ‘what comes after the 1 minute of silence?’ exploring the impact of terrorism on society. He has been working for two years on his first animation, exploring myth, legends within a contemporary set up. Art, animation and editing is done by Fabrizion. All art/animation is done on an ipad pro inspired by the cell animation tradition.

In 2018 he founded Filfla Studio to tell stories in different formats.

Zuzu the Elf:
Zuzu is a prickster Elf that causes trouble everywhere he goes until Karma bites him back.

Danny Lesco:
Danny Lesco (born (born: 1988), better known online as HerbalToons, is a Maltese YouTuber, animator, and artist best known for his parody animations, most notably “The Biggest Fan.” He originally created a Newgrounds account in 2007 but has since mainly uploaded on YouTube since 2013.