Award-winning filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. has made history as the first Nigerian director to compete at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. His debut feature, My Father’s Shadow, is in the running for the Camera d’Or, which honors the best first film.
Davies, who lost his father at the age of two, reflected on how that loss shaped him. “I’ve always collected father figures growing up,” he said. His film explores similar themes, blending personal grief with Nigeria’s political struggles.
The Guardian praised the film as “rich, heartfelt and rewarding.” It follows a father and his two sons journeying through Lagos. The story is set during the 1993 political crisis when the military annulled the presidential election. Nigerians had hoped opposition leader MKO Abiola would rescue the nation from dictatorship, but he ended up in prison.
Davies draws a striking link between fatherhood and leadership. “There are parallels between the president as a father figure and the military dictator,” he said. Growing up between London and Lagos, he believed a father had to be a strict disciplinarian, an image Nigeria embodied through General Sani Abacha after the coup.
But My Father’s Shadow offers a softer perspective. Sope Dirisu, known from Gangs of London, plays a loving yet flawed father. He brings his sons to Lagos in search of unpaid wages but struggles with personal shortcomings, including infidelity.
“The film is about the boys holding their father accountable,” Davies said. “When children learn accountability, they apply it in their own lives.” The story challenges traditional views of masculinity and suggests that fatherhood should involve care, honesty, and emotional openness.
Art Imitates Life Behind the Scenes
Davies co-wrote the screenplay with his older brother Wale, whom he admired deeply. Their bond mirrors the relationship between the two young brothers in the film, played by Godwin and Chibiuke Egbo.
On set, Dirisu stepped into a real-life ‘Daddy’ role, guiding the young actors gently. Meanwhile, Marvellous Egbo helped keep his younger brother focused, just like in the script.
“I’ve watched my brothers become fathers. The way they care for their kids is something I wish I experienced,” Davies said.
As My Father’s Shadow earns praise and attention at Cannes, Davies remains hopeful for Nigeria. “The dreams of our country have been deferred again and again,” he said. “But I still believe they can come true.”
