THERE is a strong Belfast connection with a new Irish language anime series that’s set to be broadcast next week.
The Paper Owl Films’ fast-paced Celtic-inspired adventure series Lí Ban is launching on Cúla4 in Ireland and S4C in the Welsh language on 15th October. For the first time, these old and nearly forgotten Celtic stories have been brought to life in an anime style and produced in the Irish language.
Producer Claire Handley and Jude Petticrew – the voice of Con – both hail from Belfast.
The 13 11-minute episodes for children aged seven-nine will also appeal to the whole family, and will air on the dedicated children's channel Cúla4 on October 15th at 4.20pm. All episodes will be available on the Cúla4 Player from Tuesday 15th. The series features a cast including Sadbh Breathnach as the voice of Lí Ban and Jude Petticrew as the voice of Con. Lí Ban was co-created by Gráinne McGuinness and Máire Zepf, who also wrote the series.
Gráinne McGuinness said the series taps into the international popularity of anime and fantasy storytelling. "Lí Ban’s ancient Celtic story will resonate with children worldwide – her struggle to find out who she is in the world is as real for today’s audience as it was for her centuries ago.”
Lí Ban was commissioned by TG4 and S4C and has been made with funding support from Coimisiún na Meán and Northern Ireland Screen’s Screen Fund and Irish Language Broadcast Fund. The series is distributed internationally by Aardman.
Lí Ban can be viewed live on the Cúla4 channel and on the Cúla4 player cula4.com.
