Abong, A’ibom Culture Repackaged
By UbongAbasi Ise
Abong is a movie produced by Enobong Nkanta with setting in Akwa Ibom State. Initially titled, My Audition Story, the film has gone through subtle modifications apparently for technical purpose.
The movie is like a coin with two sides. The obverse exposes common behind-the-scene situations facing movie actors while the flipside relives forgotten cultures of Ekid people living in the southern part of Nigeria. Although the story captures contemporary epoch, it takes the viewers’ minds back to the past where indigenous cultures, societal ethos, mores and values were highly revered. At its best, Abong is a perfect mix of modern glamour and rural splendor of typical Akwa Ibom local communities. The scenes serve as window through which Akwa Ibom geophysical and social environments could be viewed by the outside world.
Directed by Prince JTT Jude, Abong is a true-life story recounting how four actors travel long distance to another part of the country for audition. The journey of these characters brings to the fore common experience of having to travel on road in a vast country as Nigeria with poor and deplorable roads. As it is understood, a vehicle breakdown could be a traveler’s nightmare: any danger could happen. The actors that were audition-bound fail to make it to their destination and therefore wandered into unfamiliar terrain. They would discover set of communities that still live in the past decades, adhering strictly to the old, traditional methods. What the actors would do is totally left for the viewers’ judgments.
The movie stars the likes of Moses Armstrong, Emma Etukudo, Katesweetest Udoh, Justine Daniels, Joy Endurance, Isaac Henry, Emman Mbong, Becky Odungide, Aniebiet Francis and Enobong Nkanta.
Interacting with The Sensor, the director of the film, Prince JTT Jude said project is aimed at promoting the rich cultural heritage of Akwa Ibom State with an attempt to attract investors and tourists to the state, adding that “the movie intends to bring back our good delicacies, tradition and cultures that are about going extinct while preaching peace as the only route to sustainable development.”
The producer of the film, Ms Enobong Nkanta, who also spoke with The Sensor at one of the film movie locations in Eket, said she opted to do the movie out of motivation to showcase her Eket culture to the world through the movie characters that had a disappointing journey.
“What motivated me is that I was looking at showcasing my Ekid culture. Then I look at the filmmakers at one platform we always united: audition. So I decided to tell a story about on characters that went to audition somewhere in a far away state and along the way they encountered what I called a challenge, and they had to settle to ensure that they conquer it,” she said.
The movie comes with excellent pictures, good sound tracks and exceptional costumes and cultural displays. It is one of the films that worth watching over and over again.
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