The first Maltese mini-series to be streamed in the United States was inspired by an 1889 femicide that saw a young woman murdered by her jealous lover.

Merjen, a dark story about a couple caught in a vicious cycle of jealousy and domestic violence, was first conceived as a stage play by Salvu Mallia some 15 years ago but, for a variety of reasons, was never staged for an audience.

Now Abigail Mallia, the author’s daughter, has adapted the play into a new mini-series which is being streamed on Mhz Choice, a sub-platform of Amazon Prime that focuses on showcasing foreign-language work for US audiences.

The work is inspired by the brutal murder of a young woman who lived in Valletta at the tail end of the 19th century.

According to crime historian Edward Attard, this was one of the first recorded femicides where the motive for killing was simply “mine and mine alone”.

Marjanna Fynch was a Maltese girl who married an English soldier, Richard Fynch, a member of the Royal Munster Fusiliers, some five years before she was murdered.

However, things were not rosy in the marriage and Marjanna left her husband to live with a man called Ċensu, with whom, it is said, she had a rather tumultuous relationship.

Against Ċensu’s wishes, Marjanna worked as a prostitute and the couple often fought about her profession, with Ċensu frequently threatening her to stay away from other men.

On October 23, 1889, when Marjanna was just 20 years old, Ċensu caught her with another man in her home in Strada Scaloni, today Triq it-Turġien, which was close to Fort St Elmo.

Marjanna and Ċensu soon engaged in an explosive argument and, when things came to a head, he stabbed her with a folding knife and left her bleeding in her apartment.

Abigail Mallia (second from left, bottom) and her team during the filming of the miniseries.

Director Abigail Mallia told Times of Malta that while Merjen was an interesting production to mount, it was a very intense and emotional experience that was oftentimes challenging to process.

“Overall, the project was incredibly interesting, with the role of Merjen being performed by a new actress who has never taken a lead role. It being a very heavy piece, it was intense but we all enjoyed working on it,” she said.

“That being said, there were times when working on a scene got too emotional, especially when working with a lead that does not have an enormous amount of experience. One scene left us in tears for hours.

“But, still, it was rewarding to work on. Both because the story was something that has developed over many years and because we did not opt for something simple. The story is not told chronologically, so we are always after things that challenge the audience.”

“The plot we went for is very dark,” she continued.

“It’s mainly about a self-destructive relationship. Two people who think they love each other but are obsessive and manipulative and they end up destroying each other in the process. It’s not healthy and they end up jeopardising the relationship and themselves.”

One scene left us in tears for hours

Filming Merjen was not without its logistical challenges either, Mallia continues.

“It was a disaster, everything that could have gone wrong, did,” she said.

“Now, we are not superstitious but we started filming on Friday 13 and our film premier is also on Friday 13.

“During production, our equipment stopped working when it should have been fine, there were several instances when we had set up a scene and it started raining or when we chose a location known to be quiet and, on the day, trucks were driving by non-stop. At a point, we even had to break production for two weeks.”

“So many little things started working against that a thought crossed my mind: could it be that because this person really existed her troubled soul is still lingering?” she asked with a laugh.

“Again, I’m really not superstitious at all but we’ve never had so many issues pop up on one production.”

With Merjen available on streaming and a premiere at Eden Cinemas on May 13, Mallia said the experience showed there is a lot of interest in Maltese content overseas.

“Malta is very interesting to foreigners because we sound like so many languages in one, the visual aesthetic of the country, the culture, it’s all very exotic and foreigners are interested in our stories,” she said.

“We need to focus on stories as much as possible and take time to develop the story, as opposed to writing it in the span of two months, to persuade international markets to support us and make really high-quality productions.

“And now really is the time to make the big leap and it can happen for us as an industry if we make the right decisions.

“But if we don’t make a leap in quality in the stories we tell, then we won’t see Maltese stories on television anymore.

“People are tuning in to Netflix, Amazon, Youtube... where they can see higher quality productions with bigger budgets and more creatives. Unless we up our game, we’re going to continue seeing a severe decline in audience.

“Ours is a great small step but, in many ways, it’s also a big one because we can see that getting there is possible and that Maltese work can travel and there is a demand for it.”