A series of two-minute animated films focusing on the history and culture of the UAE and other Arab League countries as well as current events is being produced as part of a $100 million (Dh370m) project.

The films are being made by Speedy Productions of South Africa and Dubai’s Emari Toons and will be available to viewers on mobile phones and on TV.

The project, called Know Your Nation, will use narration and graphics to introduce Arab culture to an international audience, said Tim Mostert, CEO of Speedy Productions.

“We are planning 22,000 episodes of Know Your Nation,” he said. “The initial roll-out will focus on the 22 countries in the Arab League and will have 100 episodes on each country.”

Mostert is a renowned cartoonist in South Africa where he works for the Daily Sun and is the creator of Speedy, a character whose adventures are followed by more than six million people a day.

Speedy Productions has recently signed a $22m deal with Emari Toons to produce the Arab League episodes and plans to link up with production partners in each country. The Arab League is a group of countries across the Middle East and Africa.

“Using animation and humour, each two-minute episode will cover different aspects of a nation’s heroes, geography and heritage,” said Mostert.

“This series will work on every media platform. It can work as a TV series, mobile downloads, newspaper articles, web destinations, radio spots, on educational publishing formats and as a quiz show,” he said.

“Each UAE episode will cover various aspects of the nation’s history, heritage and culture and will be a short introduction to students and visitors.”

The first two pilot episodes on the Middle East are due to be completed by January 2010.

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