Director and producer Andamion Murataj was a guest on the podcast of the “Heritage is Our Brand” project, where he spoke about the animated film “Books of Light”, one of the projects awarded grants funded by the European Union and implemented by DMO Albania and EU Policy Hub.
Murataj focused on the importance of Albania’s cultural and spiritual heritage, emphasizing that the stories known to date represent only a small part of a much broader wealth. According to him, beyond the monuments, codices and inscriptions preserved in museums and historical sites, there is a much larger social and cultural history that deserves to be told.
“Our cultural treasure, not only the material one, but also the spiritual one and all its other forms, is very deep. It is unfortunate that, so far, only the surface of the significance of Albania’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage has been known. All these stories featured on the ‘Heritage is Our Brand’ website are just the tip of the iceberg of Albanian cultural history,” he said.
According to the filmmaker, the time has come for stories such as the Codices of Berat, the story of Skanderbeg, and other stories featured on the Albania Heritage platform, including the inscriptions of enslaved people in Butrint, to be known by the world.
The Codices of Berat were at the center of the discussion, as they inspired the film “Books of Light”. Murataj emphasized that the preservation of these manuscripts represents an important testament to both Albanian and European heritage.
“There is no second country in the world that has two codices. We are a country with relatively little written heritage, because our culture has generally been oral. But how is it possible that this people managed to preserve two of the world’s most famous codices, two of the primordial books, while another is found among the Arbëresh in Calabria, because it is of the Byzantine rite, among the Arbëresh or, more precisely, the Italo-Albanian communities in Calabria, in southern Italy? So, among us, we have three of the seven codices that exist in the world,” he emphasized.
He explained that the choice of animation and Artificial Intelligence was driven by the aim of reaching younger generations through modern tools. According to Murataj, “Books of Light” seeks to spark curiosity among young people and encourage them to explore and discover more about their history.
“The best way to communicate with the younger generation—because I wanted to find a modern method and identify the target audience—is through these stories. When children receive all these stories, they have the animations, and I want that animation to stay with them and spark their curiosity so that they dig deeper. I chose to use Artificial Intelligence because, if we are talking about the 21st century, we should communicate using the most cutting-edge tools,” the filmmaker explained.
Murataj also revealed that he is working on other projects addressing themes of Albanian heritage and identity, including a film about the burrneshat (sworn virgins) and another dealing with the depopulation of rural areas.
He called on young people to create and tell their own stories, considering this an important step toward bringing Albania’s heritage to the attention of both domestic and international audiences.