Here Is Everything We Know About “My Father’s Shadow”

Yesterday marked a momentous occasion as Akinola Davies Jr.’s My Father’s Shadow made its world premiere at the Cannes Festival. Deeds magazine regarded the event as “a historic world premiere,” and audiences honored the film with a standing ovation.

The first glimpse into this poignant narrative reveals Sope Dirisu (acclaimed for Gangs of Lagos) portraying a father who speaks to his two sons in an authentic Nigerian accent. The setting captures the essence of a quintessential Nigerian home: kitchen utensils resting on colorful wrappers, weathered stickers adorning brick walls, and frames filled with nostalgic memories.

The story follows this trio on a Lagos odyssey, where an absent father gradually forms a meaningful bond with his children. This intimate family tale unfolds against 1993’s turbulent backdrop, a year in Nigerian history when General Ibrahim Babangida annulled MKO Abiola’s democratic election victory, triggering months of widespread, deadly protests.

As My Father’s Shadow captivates audiences worldwide following its celebrated premiere, here’s everything we know about this remarkable film:

The Davies’ Brothers First Feature Film

In 2020, visionary siblings Akinola and Wale Davies co-wrote the short film Lizard. It ended up becoming the only Nigerian submission at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, making history as the first Nigerian production to win the Grand Jury Prize in the short film category. That same year, its acclaim was cemented with a BAFTA nomination. Now, five years later, My Father’s Shadow marks the next milestone in their creative journey. Produced under their banner Fatherland, the film represents Akinola Davies Jr’s stunning feature directorial debut, a deeply personal and ambitious work. 

While some might chalk their rise up to fortune in a world eager to mythologize success, the truth is far more compelling: it’s a story of long-term vision, craft, and dedication. The brothers spent years developing the script for My Father’s Shadow, refining and completing it in 2020. Wale Davies brings a multifaceted creative sensibility to the partnership: as one half of the celebrated rap duo Show Dem Camp and a co-manager of global music star Tems, he continues to bridge artistic worlds with fluency and depth.

It Is A Semi Autobiography 

My Father’s Shadow is a personal, semi-autobiographical exploration of the Davies brothers. It’s charged as an attempt to make sense of the absence that shaped their formative years. For Wale Davies, who was just 11 when the pivotal 1993 election of MKO Abiola was annulled, and his younger brother Akinola, the film is an excavation of personal memory set against the backdrop of national upheaval.

Growing up with limited access to their father, the brothers transform fragmented recollections into a textured narrative that serves many purposes. It is, at once, an elegy for a distant parent and a meditation on a nation at a crossroads. Through their storytelling, they confront the collective trauma of Nigeria’s political past while offering a tender, nuanced portrait of a man whose presence was felt more in absence than in moments shared.

First Nigerian Film At Cannes

Although it’s no longer news, My Father’s Shadow cements its place as the first Nigerian film ever selected for the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. This moment is amplified by its inclusion in the esteemed Un Certain Regard section, a category renowned for spotlighting bold, visionary filmmaking from around the world.

The importance of this selection cannot be overstated. Cannes is the pinnacle of international cinema, a global stage where artistic ambition meets critical acclaim. It’s the same platform that launched genre-defining films like Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, and Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction into the global consciousness.

In joining this lineage, My Father’s Shadow marks a personal triumph for the Davies brothers and signals a broader shift for Nigerian cinema. It opens the gates for Nollywood to claim its space in the international spotlight, as a cultural force with something nuanced, and globally relevant to say.

Mubi Is Globally Distributing It

My Father’s Shadow’s distribution rights were acquired by MUBI, the acclaimed global streaming platform, even before it arrived at the Cannes Festival. This acquisition not only elevates the Davies brothers’ feature debut to a global audience but also places it within a lineage of visionary filmmaking worldwide.

While full details of its theatrical rollout are yet to be announced, MUBI has confirmed plans for targeted cinema releases in key international markets, with distribution information expected in the coming months.

The film’s production results from uniting Element Pictures, Crybaby, and the Davies brothers’ own Fatherland Productions. Among the producers is Rachel Dargavel of Element Pictures, the studio behind On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, which took home the Best Director prize in Un Certain Regard at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Adding further prestige is Sundance-winning producer Funmbi Ogunbanwo, representing Fatherland Productions.

My Father’s Shadow also benefited from pivotal early-stage support: development backing from BBC Film, who previously championed the brothers’ award-winning short Lizard, and additional funding from the British Film Institute (BFI). Together, these contributions solidified the film’s path from vision to screen, marking it as a work of artistic ambition and international significance.

It Is A Coming of Age Story 

My Father’s Shadow, or as The Guardian brilliantly characterizes it, Once Upon a Time in Lagos, fits squarely into the coming-of-age genre. While set against the backdrop of Nigeria’s first presidential election in a decade, the film’s true territory is the transformative internal landscape of its young protagonists during a single, pivotal day in 1993.

Their father, long absent, reappears suddenly and without explanation. As hours pass, their idealized paternal image gradually reveals a man of contradictions. The boys witness his charisma, vulnerability, strength, and moral fragility. In many ways, the father becomes a symbol of the Nigeria they are growing into: multifaceted, wounded, and resistant to simple categorization.

This day marks the moment the boys begin to see their world differently. It’s a rite of passage shaped by history,  fatherhood, and flawed humanity. Through this journey, the boys inch closer to understanding not just their father, but themselves. It’s the story of two children beginning to see adults not as vulnerable people—and of learning, perhaps for the first time, what it means to grow up.