A Project Worth Supporting: “Enongo”

A Project Worth Supporting: “Enongo”

October 8th, 2019

Jerry Beck

Enongo is a forthcoming feature-length documentary and the inspiring story of rapper/producer/Ph.D. candidate Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo, a.k.a. Sammus. Inspired by the feminist bounty hunter protagonist of Nintendo’s “Metroid” video game series, Enongo adopted the stage persona “Sammus” to tell her story and experiences through her music. The film chronicles Enongo’s life as an independent artist, touring across North America, creating her compelling new album, and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage. It is a portrait of a human being living in our moment of time, trying to confirm their personal identity and achieve their dreams against the odds.

Most notably, the film features over ten minutes of original hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animation entirely created by a team of six young Black women animators — a historical first for a feature-length movie of any genre. Veteran animator and director Dan Haskett is the senior character designer on the project. Award winning documentary filmmaker Kevin Schreck (Persistence Of Vision) is the Producer, director and editor. Click here for more information:

The various sequences function like an anthology, exploring the protagonist’s past, potential future, and what is going on in her mind, with themes including how video games inspired Enongo as a child, to her complicated upbringing as a daughter of West African immigrants in Upstate New York, to her perilous struggles with mental health. Put together, these uniquely designed and animated vignettes create one intimate portrait in a way that only animation can achieve.

Through a combination of actuality and animation, “Enongo” tells a universally-relevant, intimate, empowering story of survival, artistic creation, and identity.

Check out the Indiegogo campaign page for more information, artist bios, and the complete range of cool perks for project contributors.

Initial character designs by animation legend, Dan Haskett

Rough sketches by Shammah McVay

Rough sketches by Brooklyn Lee

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Jerry Beck

Writer, cartoon producer and author of more than 15 books on animation history. A former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney; currently on the faculty at both CalArts in Valencia and Woodbury University in Burbank, California.