By Johnson Esther- Ebun is a short film by Lucy Oigbochie Abena that ventures into the world of deafness; not as a deficit, but as a lived identity. Abena, shaped by her interactions with deaf and blind classmates at Federal Science and Technical College, felt a pulling need to tell stories that are seldom told, those of people who hear silence.
Directed by Ekeh John Emeka, Ebun follows a young deaf girl who obtains hearing aids and then makes a surprising choice; she rejects the new ability to hear. The film isn’t about tragedy. It’s about choice, peace, the weight of sound, and what it costs to be “normal.”
Abena didn’t have an easy path bringing this film to life. Funds were lacking; a GoFundMe attempt failed to hit even half the needed budget. She used her own rent savings and leaned on friends to keep the film afloat. The release is set for September 28, timed to coincide with the International Day of the Deaf, suggesting this is more than a story; it’s advocacy.
Why does Ebun matter? Because it forces us to ask questions like, ‘What are we missing when we define people by what they can’t hear? What strength lies in silence?’
Ebun presses us to see deaf lives not as interruptions to our stories, but as their own full stories.
