My Father’s Shadow
Screening: 8 April 2027
Film details
Director: Akinola Davies Jr
Cast: Sope Dirisu, Chibuike Marvellous Egbo, Godwin Egbo
Country: Nigeria
Language: English, Yoruba (English subtitles)
Rating: TBC
Running time: 94 minutes
Film summary
Two young brothers explore Lagos with their estranged father during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis, witnessing both the city’s magnitude and their father’s daily struggles as political unrest threatens their journey home. A powerful and poetic look at fatherhood, identity and memory from first-time feature filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr.
Watch the trailer
Reviews
“The unusual power of “My Father’s Shadow,” for all its subjectivity, comes from its elements of impersonality—from the seemingly scriptural authority with which memory is sublimated into myths and relationships into destinies.”
— Richard Brody, The New Yorker
“With great tenderness, Davies imagines such dreams, memories and even cinema itself as a portal through which we might resume communion, and honour what could have been.”
— Abiba Coulibaly, Sight and Sound
Major awards
Winner – Special Mention: Golden Camera, Cannes Film Festival 2025
Nominee – Un Certain Regard Award, Cannes Film Festival 2025