From the time we were very young, we’ve been told that History is boring, that it’s just another subject or period to get through in school before running off to the other period. But, what if History wasn’t boring? What if History could be retold in a more appealing manner? Enter the team behind ‘Patta History’. This team has been animating and narrating stories of our own Lankan history for the past few years and is on a mission to discover what it means to be ‘truly Sri Lankan’

What’s the process like for every animated video?

It all starts with the idea for the story. We get suggestions from our Patrons and fans, and the team. One of the benefits our Patrons get is the ability to vote on the next story. Once we have picked a story, it gets down to research and development of the script. Ruwani and Uvindu go back and forth with historians and the books to ensure authenticity. Once we have a solid script it goes to the story-board artist who adds pictures to the words. The story board is what help the animators, sound directors and the narrator to get a better idea of what the episode and character should look and sound like.

Do you have a target audience?

Both yes and no. We don’t necessarily target a specific audience with each episode, but have found that each one draws in a variety of viewers depending on the subject matter. For instance we don’t necessarily do our videos for younger audiences, but have now found that a lot of parent are showing the videos to their kids to help them connect with Sri Lankan history and as a tool to make history more interesting to the younger generation. Even teachers are using it as teaching aids so it’s an interesting stage for us as well to be in.

Are you going to switch to other means of educating people on history other than animated videos?

We are Children of the Internet and believe that that’s where the future of story-telling lies. We know the power of well researched, thoughtfully produced short videos that entertain, educate and inspire. We like to stick with what we do best and keep doing the animated videos. It is our identity after all.

What’s the research process like?

An extensive amount of research goes in to each and every aspect of a story and we work will several academic and non-academic historians who verify authenticity. Sri Lanka’s history is very vast and sometimes the chronicles are not that clear but our team goes through each one painstakingly to make sure that what we put in an episode is as accurate as can be.

How did the team get together?

It started off as a connection made on Facebook, when Ruwani approached Duval and his team with the idea. Since then we have connected with and grown the team to a group that is equally passionate about Patta History as we are.

What are your up and coming plans?

The pipeline is to continue telling these stories, and uncovering as many as we can. We also have a mandate to tell the stories not just in English, but also in Sinhala and Tamil to reach wider audiences. So we are currently in the process of translating the stories. A few Sinhala episodes have been released already and the Tamil ones will be out shortly.

We are also looking at all avenues of taking the stories to wider audiences even overseas. There are large groups of Sri Lankans living overseas and they need to connect with their roots. We like to think that we can offer them something through our videos.

Thirdly, we also want to launch our own merchandise store, so that our fans and followers get to feel like they are more a part of the Patta family.

How and why did you come up with a concept like this?

We began Patta History to discover our own identity. Ruwani and I realized that as young children with interrupted connections to Sri Lanka, we didn’t know enough about our own history. There are many more adults like us. At least 3 million Sri Lankans live overseas. Around 1 million of these have lived overseas for more than 10 years and want a connection with home for themselves and their children. 

We also saw an emergence of cultural content. We felt that we consume too much of a certain type of media, and not enough of our own. We wanted to make available high quality stories about Sri Lanka produced by Sri Lankans. 

Finally, we wanted to contribute to the ongoing debate about what it means to be Sri Lankan? What is our true identity, if we indeed have just one?

While we love telling historical stories, we also love what these stories tell us about ourselves: peeling away at the layers, stereotypes and getting to the bottom of why we are the way we are is an ultimate reward.

Geeshand Bandara and Ruwani Hettiarachchi

Executive Producers

Patta History

By Amana Iflal for ChoKoLAATe

By Nishu Gunawardana for Patta History