Nollywood actor and model, Emmanuel Ikubese has taken his craft a notch higher, producing and directing a movie titled Mzigo that throws the spotlight on the Sickle Cell disease and how its warriors have faced stigmatism.
Mzigo tells the story of a man who fell in love with a beautiful lady battling sickle cell and against the tide and parental consent, went on to raise a family with her and faced the pains and consequences.
The cast are the lead actor and director of Mzigo, Emmanuel Ikubese, Tanzanian actor, Elizabeth Michael, Mercy Isoyip, child actors – Angel Onyi Unigwe and the famous Pamolerin Ayodeji. The others include Paul Adams, Gloria Young, Seun Ajayi, Daniel Etim-Effiong, Paul Itombra among several.
Speaking at the private screening in Lekki, Lagos, the co-producer and lead actor, who dual role in the movie production — co-producer and lead actor — said that film production is part of a multimedia campaign to dismantle the public stigma and widespread ignorance that often surrounds those living with sickle cell, bringing it to mainstream media and inspiring hope within the community.
He added that the film has premiered at both local and international festivals, was nominated for an award at one of the festivals in Abuja, and screened at the Zanzibar International Film Festival in Tanzania.
“The purpose of this private premiere is to basically align with our sponsors and our partners and the Sickle Cell stakeholders in Nigeria; bring them into what we have made for them as a tool. We also want to showcase the burden of what it feels like living with Sickle Cell, not just the Sickle Cell community, but people outside the community.
“The whole idea is to take it into the film space via film festivals. We screened at Zanzibar International Film Festival in Tanzania and a couple of festivals in the United States as well. One of the things I want people to get from this film is that it is a tool to advocate for Sickle Cell, changing the false narratives, the myths, the very ignorance that people have about Sickle Cell.
“I have seen how impactful that has been in helping us change the narrative around HIV and AIDS. Using all of that experience, going to 12, 13 years, I just felt like this is one disease that has been swept under the carpet,” Ikubuese said.
“I feel like Sickle Cell almost feels like there is a big elephant in the room, and no one is talking about it, and the stigma doesn’t even add up. I wanted to use this film to show people what it feels like to live with Sickle Cell. The burden is not just on the person who has Sickle Cell, but on the entire family system and the entire life,” Ikubuese enthused.
“A lot of times, people don’t understand that storytelling is such a great tool to bring people into a world. And I want to bring people into the world of what it feels like living with Sickle Cell day-to-day from a caregiver perspective,” the co-producer cum director added.
