Pete Edochie Endorses ỤNỤ DUM, An Animated Igbo Film Produced By Mmụta Dị Ụtọ, Bringing a Classic Igbo Folktale To Life

The legendary actor Chief Pete Edochie, has recently endorsed ỤNỤ DUM, an animated film about the popular Mbe (tortoise) and the animal kingdom in Akuko Ifo Ndi Igbo. The film is created by Mmụta Dị Ụtọ, an Igbo learning platform powered by the brilliant efforts of a group of young Igbo men and women. Pete Edochie said “Ejee N’elu, Ejee N’ala, Nke Anyị Bụ Nke Anyị!”

Growing up as young children, many of us Ndi Igbo were told captivating stories of events that happened in ancient times by our parents and grandparents – events that happened between humans, animals, and spirits. These stories were called Akuko Ifo.

However, we grew up into adults, without ever seeing these stories replicated in any cartoons or animated films like the stories from Tom and Jerry, Spider-Man, and Super Man of the Western world. We had no Igbo cartoons. Our Akuko Ifo didn’t make it to the big screens, not until now.

Today it gives us great joy to present to Ndi Igbo, Mmụta Dị Ụtọ, the first international multimedia platform that is championing the visualization of our Akuko Ifo. Mmụta Dị Ụtọ, with an impressive collection of Igbo stories and language lessons on their YouTube Channel, is creating world-class animations of some of the foundational stories that hold secrets, knowledge, and wisdom about the Igbo culture and society.

On the 1st Of May 2024, Mmụta Dị Ụtọ will be launching a Kickstarter campaign for an animated Igbo folktale about the popular Mbe (tortoise) that we all grew up hearing stories about during Egwu Onwa. The Kickstarter campaign is designed to raise funds for the completion of the ỤNỤ DUM film.

Umu Igbo, the Mmụta Dị Ụtọ is a gift to us from Ndi Ichie and CHUKWU, and their passion to bring Igbo Akuko Ifo to the international scene is a project worthy of our financial support.

During the Kickstarter campaign people will receive rewards for contributing to the campaign including early access tickets to a premiere of the ỤNỤ DUM movie, custom merchandise, and an animation workshop among other things.

To receive ongoing updates about the project, you can sign up at https://unudumfilm.com 

In a discussion with Udochi Okeke, a co-founder of Mmụta Dị Ụtọ, on the aspirations and targets of their platform, she said that:

“Our goal is to build a bridge for Igbo children to gain an understanding of their Igbo identity using modern mediums. So many of our children today are attracted to Disney channels and cartoons that are foreign-made. People think Igbo doesn’t have stories, but we have them. We have many. So, we aim to tell traditional Igbo stories in a modern way.”

“Our second goal is to build a community of Igbo people and Igbo lovers online who are interested in these things. That is why we are inviting people to sign up for our mailing list at https://unudumfilm.com to be notified about our upcoming campaign about our Igbo folktale. All the details about the folktale are on that website.”

The ỤNỤ DUM film is the first time in our history as Ndi Igbo where the story of the intelligent and cunning Mbe (tortoise) is packaged for an international audience of children and adults alike. As we campaign for Ndi Igbo to teach our children our language (Asusu Igbo), this film is a major milestone that will aid Igbo parents to keep the Igbo identity alive in their homes.

Mmụta Dị Ụtọ was founded by Udochi Okeke and Ọcha Tk. Their programs are designed to revive the speaking of the Igbo language, the love of Igbo culture, and the pride in our heritage and identity as Ndi Igbo.

Visit the Mmụta Dị Ụtọ YouTube Channel at https://youtube.com/@maaziagu

Their landing page is https://unudumfilm.com

Follow them on Twitter https://twitter.com/ikenganation

You can watch the ỤNỤ DUM Trailer here: https://youtu.be/ZcfWNqahqCE?si=mWej-wn9ylvDzOH3

Here is a video of Pete Edochie’s endorsement of ỤNỤ DUM: https://youtu.be/8VRALP1wTqo?si=9iQI9PxGYFHLChOB

This Article Was Written By Chuka Nduneseokwu, Editor-In-Chief, of Voice Of The Sun

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