'Tun Tum' movie receives praise and criticism from audience

Ghanaian filmmaker Socrate Safo, along with his partner, animator Michael Tettey Narh, received congratulatory messages and criticisms from the audience during an exclusive showing of their latest work 'Tun Tum.'

The event took place before a select audience, including Ghana film industry stakeholders and African-Americans living in Ghana, at the Silverbird Cinemas in Accra.

The event was on the invitation of the Ghana Tourism Authority. Many who attended have described the movie as 'artistic' and novel with the potential to travel across many African generations to come, despite also being labeled as controversial.

Quite some notable faces in the Ghanaian creative industry have praised the latest work of Ghanaian Filmmaker Socrate Safo and his partner Michael Tettey Narh. Among them was popular actor Fiifi Coleman, who was at the premiere on Friday to witness the movie.

"I have zero reservations for this film. It's an artistic work. Somebody dreamt about this and put it together to tell a story. And they told their story how they want to tell it," he said.

Also showering praises on 'Tun Tum' was popular Ghanaian Pan-African poet Nana Asaase.

"I think it does us (Ghanaians) justice. Doesn't it point to places like Tema as the centre of the world...? And that's a good thing to sell Ghana. I think it's a beautiful representation of Africa, our diasporas, what we are, the call for renaissance, the call for us to come back home, and really our story. It's a beautiful story originated by one of us. And this story should be told to young children who would come after us and shown wherever... We want to tell our version of the story. That's 'Tun Tum' for me," he said.

But, despite the appreciation of the artistic view and interpretation of the movie 'Tun Tum,' some of the audience couldn't hide their religious internal conflict with some parts of the film.

Ghanaian-American fashion designer Kwab Asamoah expressed his opinion.

"I think it was a different interpretation of the story that we all know. But, I think what was interesting was his take on some of the gaps in what occurred. We all know what happened in the 'Adam and Eve story,' but we don't necessarily think about what happened in between those jumps in the Bible," he said.

Another African-American guest at the screening, Richard Moore from New Jersey now living in Ghana, also had his take on what some described as a 'conflict of the scripture' (referring to the Bible).

"I saw it as a different way of depicting Biblical history; I can't say I agree or disagree with it... because that is what the artist is saying. This is his interpretation... You have to accept what you want to accept and throw away what you wanna throw away. But, it's just a beautiful thing to see someone else's interpretation," he said.

In all, many said that the creator of 'Tun Tum' had the right to tell his story, and the viewers also had the right to interpret what they saw the way they understood it.

Film costumier Gifty Mawuena Sossavi agreed to this. "He has the creative liberty to tell his story how he wants it and not follow exactly what is in the Bible. Now, with the story, everybody is entitled to their opinion and so, I don't need to agree with what he is saying. But, kudos to Socrate Safo," she said.

The movie 'Tun Tum' is a 34-minute animated movie that illustrates the story of the creation of man from an African perspective. The film is yet to be released commercially to the public but is currently being screened to a select audience.