by Belton Delaine-Facey for Winter Film Festival
See the animation-documentary hybrid film Enongo on February 21 @12:00PM at REGAL Union Square (850 Broadway) as part of New York City’s 14th Annual Winter Film Festival. Tickets now on sale!
If you’ve never seen a concert without knowing the artists, I highly recommend it. It’s always a fun surprise to find out the next act can shred the guitar, hit the highest note you’ve ever heard, or they’re an Ivy league PhD student. That’s how director, Kevin Schreck, met rapper/producer/Cornell PhD candidate, Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo a.k.a. Sammus.
“I was just blown away by the authenticity and rawness in her voice that came through and her use of language and storytelling techniques. Just the authenticity of just how vulnerable and expressive and powerful she was on stage.”
I got to interview him about his film, Enongo, which stands a testament to how we should all embrace the different facets that make us who we are.
Over seven years, Schreck documented Lumumba-Kasongo’s journey through her music career, academic work, and engagement. How well this all comes together jumps out from the opening of the film when Sammus commands the mic at a concert, talking about her PhD work and growing up as a Black girl in the suburbs before performing her song “Mighty Morphing” which contains references to videos games, comic books, and 80s movies. Embracing the different sides of yourself is a strong message that is sure to resonate with many people, including Schreck when it comes to his own filmmaking.
Not too many documentaries contain animation sequences, but for him it was natural to use those to depict key events of Lumumba-Kasongo’s life. “I kind of had a simultaneous interest in two very disparate fields of filmmaking, which were animation as well as nonfiction filmmaking. I never considered myself an animator, but I liked to animate…I actually didn’t want to do animation originally because it’s so expensive…but it just seemed like it would help us tell the story in ways that we otherwise couldn’t visually cinematically” Like Sammus, Schreck found connection between passions that aren’t evident from the outside.
Fully embracing all parts of her life plays a major role in how she resonates with so many people. There are very few who can find fans at a music festival, Comic-Con, and a scientific conference. But, it goes beyond the surface of what she can do on stage or in a lab. She showcases many of her insecurities which is scary to most people but holds its own form of power others can connect to. This became evident to Schreck many times throughout the process, like hiring animators. “First and foremost, they had to be good animators. Secondarily, but as important, was what does this story mean to you?…I really wanted to hire people who really locked in and cared about her story.”
The vulnerability Lumumba-Kasongo showcases allowed different animators to connect to different aspects of her life. Whether it was her upbringing, science background, or creative pursuits, that connection granted the animators the creative direction to accommodate their style to fit the unique moments of her life. The result is a collection of work with as much color and flair as her own life.
As an educator, a lesson Schreck gives his students is to take inspiration from all things. “Be open minded. Be omnivorous. Be inspired by lots of different things, whether it’s science, nature, literature, poetry, music, art, social issues, politics, history, or your own life. I would say another thing is to be adaptable, be resourceful. As an independent filmmaker, you often have to wear a lot of hats. So being a jack of all trades is useful.” Whether intentional or not, Enongo stands a testament to that lesson, inspiring us all to embrace everything that makes us whole.
About Winter Film Festival
Winter Film Festival is an all-volunteer women and minority-run organization as part of Winter Film Awards Inc, a 501(c)3 organization founded in 2011 to celebrate emerging talent in local and international filmmaking.
The 14th Annual Winter Film Festival runs February 18-22 2026 includes a diverse mixture of animated films, documentaries, comedies, romances, dramas, horror films, music videos and web series of all lengths. Our five-day event is jam-packed with screenings and Q&A sessions at NYC’s REGAL Union Square, six Education sessions/workshops and a variety of filmmaker networking events all coming to a glittering close on February 22 with our red-carpet gala Awards Ceremony.
Winter Film Festival programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Promotional support provided by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment.
For more information about Winter Film Festival, visit WinterFilmFest.org
email us at info@winterfilmawards.com and visit us at Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
