The UK’s Best International Feature Film entry to the 98th Academy Awards and recipient of the Caméra d’Or Special Mention at Cannes, Akinola Davies Jr.’s My Father's Shadow is a poetic, tender portrait of father-son bonds. Framed by the political landscape of 1993 Lagos, the film follows a father and his two young sons as they journey into and around the vibrantly rendered Nigerian metropolis, quietly reckoning with their relationship while navigating a city on the precipice of democratic crisis. Brothers and collaborators Akinola Davies Jr. and Wale Davies bring us a groundbreaking feature debut – centering an award-winning performance by Sopé Dìrísù - that reveals the profound depths of what families leave unspoken.

The Garden Cinema View:

This impressive debut feature from Akinola Davies Jr. is a tender memory play, a tribute to his father, and an immersion into a politically volatile Nigeria in 1993. Co-writing with his brother Wale Davies, My Father’s Shadow is a deeply personal, and partially biographical work. Sopé Dìrísù anchors the drama as their father, exuding strength, vulnerability, desperation, and love, in what is a complex and well-rounded portrayal of father-son relations. Despite a small budget, early 1990s Lagos is rendered in vivid sights and sounds that are transportive. Beneath this ripples mystical energies, whilst the escalating political breakdown gradually frays the edges of this portrait. A poignant film, and one which announces a key new voice in British cinema.  

Cast:
Sopé Dìrísù, Efon Wini, Godwin Egbo, Chibuike Marvellous Egbo