Private Project

Eno's Demons

When faced with a series of disappointments, a young lonely writer is pushed to douse her demons.

When quizzed about her struggle with depression, a young lady’s story uncannily corroborates an unrelated narrative.

Eno's Demons is a hybrid documentary that presents depression as the mental illness it is against the backdrop of a moving narrative.

  • OtoObong Ekpenyong
    Director
    By Africans About Africa, If Only
  • Wingonia Ikpi
    Writer
  • OtoObong Ekpenyong
    Writer
    If Only
  • OtoObong Ekpenyong
    Producer
    If Only
  • Onyinye Odokoro
    Key Cast
    "Eno"
  • Charlz 'Bonja' Archibong
    Director of Photography
    I Am Bassey, The Father
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Experimental, Hybrid
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 20, 2018
  • Country of Origin:
    Nigeria
  • Country of Filming:
    Nigeria
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    R3D Raw
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Harris Jenkins Mental Health Awareness Screening
    Calabar
    Nigeria
    May 4, 2018
    Special Early Screening
  • 5 Movies and the Word
    Calabar, Cross River State
    Nigeria
    July 21, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Screen It Film Festival
    Gold Coast
    Australia
    September 29, 2018
    Australian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Amazing Shorts Film Festival
    Madrid
    Spain
    October 3, 2018
    Spanish Premiere
    Best African Short Film
  • Inshort Film Festival
    Victoria Island, Lagos
    Nigeria
    December 28, 2018
    Official Selection
Director Biography - OtoObong Ekpenyong

OtoObong Ekpenyong holds a Bachelor of Art in Christian Education and has produced digital content in faith-based organizations for over a decade. In the 2013 and 2014 Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) training sessions, he emerged one of the best in Sound for Film and Cinematography respectively and won the festival’s talent development scholarship in 2014.
In 2015, he was one of 18 African filmmakers trained at Montana State University (MSU)’s Social Justice Documentary Filmmaking Workshop in Bozeman with funding by Ford Foundation. In 2016, while chaperoning 13 other Africans to the same workshop - which he also served as teaching assistant, he directed his first short - a documentary themed around the essence of the workshop; 'By Africans About Africa’ - which has screened at iRepresent International Documentary Film Festival, Lagos Island, Lagos.
In 2017 he embarked on his debut short - ‘If Only’, produced courtesy of a seed grant by Ford Foundation, underwritten by Africa International Film Festival’s talent development initiative which has been screened at the Silicon Valley African Film Festival (SVAFF) in San Jose, California, at the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in Victoria Island, Lagos and is scheduled to screen at the Lake International Pan African Film Festival in Nakuru, Kenya.
In 2018 he embarked on this sophomore short - ‘Eno’s Demons’, a hybrid documentary project produced for mental illness awareness which has been screened at Screen It Film Festival (SIFF) in Gold Coast, Australia and Amazing Shorts in Madrid, Spain - where it won Best African Short Film. It was also recognised by 360nobs.com as one of the Best Short Films of 2018.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I believe in presenting the truth of the human condition; it’s the reason I hope to make social and human interest documentaries primarily. But how do you capture the truth of the resolving incidence in case after the facts? With no input from those who've had the experience themselves, we are mostly left to conjectures and speculations of what could have transpired.

So I agree with Sam Billinge that whilst there might be one visual signature of the documentary genre, there is a whole range of narrative approaches one can take. As creative non-fiction culture and practice evolves in interesting ways, practitioners are awakening to the fact that the genre can do better than the storytelling modes it has been associated with.

And thus I experiment with a storytelling approach here - undergirding a fictional narrative with a real life account, to speak to the concern in case. The goal here is to tell this story in a way that draws one in on a personal level but, more importantly, address our curiosities about the subject matter in resonant ways.

My hope with this is to contribute to conversations around real issues that are affecting young people here and now. I sincerely believe that exposing these concerns at a time when popular sentiments suggest otherwise can prevent the self harm that is imminent when timely intervention is not sought for those depressed.