The History Channel is currently broadcasting a number of documentaries and short films about Napoleon Bonaparte.

One of those productions, a film about Napoleon’s rise in the siege of Toulon, was filmed in Malta. Malta doubles up as Marseille, Corsica, Toulon and other places in the one-hour production. The film uses a good blend of talented actors, Malta’s natural topography, the inside of our buildings, reconstructions, period costumes and of course the city skylines of Valletta, Mdina and the three Cities.

The production itself is truly impressive. There have been other such productions filmed in Malta, with our historical buildings and skylines standing in for various cities. There have also been a couple of documentaries featuring the Knights of St John and the programmes are complemented by some excellent MTA adverts featuring the historic bastions of Valletta with a good flavour of Maltese culture thrown in. Let us be clear – it is excellent promotion and the filming is also good business. But it begs the question... with our thousands of years of history, why are we not attracting feature productions about the history of Malta?

We can point out many epochs which would surely make for awesome productions. There is our pre-history and the Neolithic temples, there’s the Roman times, the rule of the Arabs and the coming of Count Roger, the star-studded era of the Knights of St John, the arrival of Napoleon and the ousting of the Order, the arrival of the British, Malta in World War II. Even Dom Mintoff and his standoff with Britain would make a great feature documentary. In short, we are simply not cashing in.

The set is here, it is all around us. Malta is what it is, layer upon layer of architectural gems which tell the story of our past. Mdina still stands, as do the Three Cities, and Valletta too.

The relevant authority really needs to get involved and begin discussions with the major production companies to film Malta’s history. The beauty of our past is that much (if not most) of it is relevant to the rest of the world. Our two Great Sieges are the stuff of legend and have been turned into many books, novels and studies. But there has been a shift... people no longer have to learn the history of a people or a nation through books. The excellently produced documentaries about history and its personalities are the new way to learn. They are factual, presented well and keep the viewer engrossed – again, we must cash in. One must never underestimate the power of history and culture in attracting tourists. This summer’s numbers are good, but we must always diversify – we must offer something for everyone and there are many people who do watch such films and in turn decide to follow in history’s footsteps.

The possibilities are endless – one could put together a feature film retracing the footsteps of St Paul, we could showcase our diving product on a National Geographic channel. Television is a changing medium and with the new services on offer, one can watch such programmes and flick a button to get information about the venue and its history. The political parties are in agreement that we must utilise cutting edge technology and this is true – but we must also broaden our idea of what such technology is. Latest generation television is one of them and we must exploit it to the fullest. Our history is fascinating and we have a duty to tell others about the exploits of these tiny islands in the Mediterranean.