A joint feature film project by Stelo Stories Studio and the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center.

What if an African child in 1756 had Instagram when he was enslaved?

 Equiano.stories reimagines the historic childhood saga of Olaudah Equiano. The epic story is captured as a self-recorded, first-person account, within the format of Instagram Stories, using video, still images, and text. Equiano.stories presents the early life of one of the most dynamic figures in history, through modern technology that enables global viewing, via social media.

The film focuses on the heart and soul of Equiano’s family and community in the Igboland village of Essaka, then moves through the disruption resulting from the violent kidnapping that trapped him in chattel slavery. This true story reveals the strength, tenacity, and resistance of African people during the Middle Passage, captured on a ship, headed to the New World.

Equiano is our origin story which does not begin in enslavement. It begins in FREEDOM