+ intro by film programmer Ademola Bello
Akinola Davies Jr on ‘My Father’s Shadow’
Akinola Davies Jr’s tender, tactile debut about a spectral father figure has sparked comparisons to Aftersun (2022). The British-Nigerian filmmaker joins a wave of directors making personal projects, but My Father’s Shadow – co-written with his brother Wale and loosely based on their childhoods – is also sharply political. Folarin (Sopé Dìrísù) takes his two young sons, Remy and Akin (Chibuike Marvellous Egbo and Godwin Egbo), from their rural village to Lagos, seeking unpaid wages. As the boys reconnect with their absent, enigmatic father, political unrest stirs. The results of the 1993 election are in, and the fragile hope that presidential candidate M.K.O. Abiola will unseat the military dictatorship fills the air. Shot with the intimate, elliptical quality of a memory, this affecting tale of a momentous day is an impressive directorial debut.
How did you approach filtering this key moment in Nigerian history through children’s eyes?
We were torn about how much we should spoon-feed people. Our anchor point was that it’s from the kids’ perspective and no matter how much you think they should know, they’re not attuned to the politics of what’s happening, they’re more interested in their father. You’re way more curious about his aura, as opposed to what’s going on. At one point, there was a lot more of Folarin’s story, we wanted people to know that he was politically active. But we had to pull it all back – the audience needs to be with the kids and know about as much information as they do. We had to exercise a lot of discipline.
Why are children so central to your storytelling, in this and your short films?
I loved watching Sesame Street [1969-], Fraggle Rock [1983-87] and The Muppets [1976-81] growing up. I’m hugely influenced by Jim Henson; I wanted to make kids’ TV. I left Nigeria when I was 12 or 13, and because I left at that age, I really romanticise it. That’s always stayed with me – I want to cater to my younger self. Cinematically, children give you permission to dream, to make, I wouldn’t say magical realism, I’d say supernatural drama. A child’s perspective allows you to go into dreamlike vignettes, since kids are so curious about everything. In My Father’s Shadow, we focus a lot on a lot of minutiae, like ants and insects, because kids are closer to the ground. Kids are, like, poking a carcass, because they don’t have those adult filters where you’d think: let’s not poke the dead thing. As a filmmaker, that means I can be a lot more silly and have more fun.
The boys’ mother feels present while being physically absent, while the father is physically present but feels absent. We piece him together in the same way the kids are.
In this film, we were trying to pinpoint something that we’re grieving. Our mum effectively gave us all the notes to shape Folarin’s character, who we only met as infants. My brother has always had a sense of awe about our dad, whereas I’m quite a mother’s boy, so I’ve always been more defensive because I’ve only ever seen my mum alone. Having the brothers with different expectations of who their dad was meant we could build him up for Remy and then dismantle him for Akin. Sopé has a big part to play as well. Physically, he embodies a very masculine stature – he’s a stud. You can see there’s a strong male figure there. But Sopé also has that ability within his face to completely expose himself. What we hadn’t seen a lot in Black representation of father figures, or just representation of father figures on many levels, is nuance.
On two occasions, you include real footage of Nigeria at that time. What led to that choice?
I met Adam Curtis maybe three years ago, and when we met, he asked me to look at some footage. It was reportage, some of which was on TV and some that never made it, of Africa in the early to mid-late 90s. And I was like, I want to make a documentary about M.K.O. Abiola, because in the footage I found his funeral. While we were editing My Father’s Shadow, I thought, there’s some footage of 12 June [1993, the day of the election], and that bit of archive is not in the script. I showed the footage to my editor, and he said, let’s put this in. I love the idea of mixing media, but it felt quite permissible, since we didn’t use it out of context. It almost falls off from what we shot. A lot of people haven’t seen the real footage because Nigeria was censored for a while. These are real people we can put alongside the fiction, and pay homage to them.
What has the response been like from other Nigerians?
For the older generation, it’s been very cathartic, because they aren’t used to talking about their experiences of what happened. For the younger generation, it was an introduction to a version of their history that they’re not all super aware of.
Interview by Hope Rangaswami, Sight and Sound, March 2026
My Father’s Shadow
Directed by: Akinola Davies Jr
©: Element Pictures MFS Limited, British Broadcasting Corporation, The British Film Institute, FremantleMedia Limited
Production Company: Element Pictures
In association with: Crybaby, Fatherland
Made with the cooperation of: Grand Central, ETC, ScreenSkills
Developed and made with the support of: BBC Film
Made with the support of the: BFI Filmmaking Fund
Presented by: BBC Film, BFI
In association with: The Match Factory, Fremantle, Electric Theatre Collective, MUBI
International Sales: The Match Factory
Executive Producers: Ed Guiney, Andrew Love, Eva Yates, Ama Ampadu, Christian Vesper, Akinola Davies Jr, Wale Davies, Sopé Dìrísù
Produced by: Rachel Dargavel, Funmbi Ogunbanwo
Co-producer: Lucy Drury
Line Producer: Nick Hayes
Associate Producer: Moya De Young
UK Production Manager: Shuku Anderson
Nigeria Production Managers: Ayo Ogunlade, Jumafor Ajogwu
Financial Controller: Jessica McCausland
Location Scout and Manager: Iyeoluwawunmi Hassan
Post-production Supervisor: Shaheen Schleifer
Post-production Co-ordinators: Stephen Thomas Walsh, Patricia McCormack
Post-production Producer: George Blomiley
1st Assistant Director: Ade Oshin
2nd Assistant Director: Nero Omoluwa
Script Supervisors: Martin Nyakabete, Vinita Petrus
Casting Director: Shaheen Baig
Casting Associate: Gabby King
Written by: Wale Davies
Co-written by: Akinola Davies Jr
Cinematographer: Jermaine Edwards
Gaffer: Tamu Bakr
Key Grip: Idris Shokanbi
Visual Effects by: Electric Theatre Collective
Edited by: Omar Guzmán Castro
Production Design by: Jennifer Anti, Pablo Anti
Standby Art Director: Jeremy Mbu
Set Dresser: Sharon Ikechukwu Unagha
Graphic Design: Asel Tambay
Costume Design by: PC Williams
Assistant Costume Designer: Diipo Ayo-Adedusi
Costume Supervisor: Aisha Tiga Kassim
Hair and Make-up by: Kehinde Are, Feyisayo Oyebisi
Make-up Designer: Feyisayo Oyebisi
Make-up Artists: Uduoghene Alakpa, Moyosore Momolosho
Key Hair Designer: Kehinde Are
Hair Designer: Nike Folorunsho
Film Stock Provided by: Kodak
Music by: Duval Timothy, CJ Mirra
Vocal Performance by: Roxanne Tatei
Double Bass Performed by: Tom Herbert
Choir Lead: Okikiola Olatimehin
Choir Master: Lawrence Shonaike
Music Supervisors: Kaya Pino, Sarah Giles
Sound Designers: CJ Mirra, Chad Orororo
Sound Supervisor: CJ Mirra
Production Sound Mixer: Pius Olamilekan Fatoke
Re-recording Mixer: James Ridgway
Supervising Dialogue Editor: Adele Fletcher
Dialogue & ADR Editor: Timor Oren
Supervising Effects Editor: Joe Jackson
Akinola Stand-in: Tega Olose
Talking Drum Consultant: Adedeji Aremu
Talking Drummer: Elijah Olawiyola
Animal Wrangler: Olamide Ijadunola
Cast
Sopé Dìrísù (Folarin)
Chibuike Marvellous Egbo (Remi)
Godwin Egbo (Akin)
Akerele David (young Remi)
Owa Orire Jeremiah (young Akin)
Winifred Efon (Bola)
Olarotimi Fakunle (Corridor)
Greg ‘Teddy Bear’ Ojefua (Emeka)
Tosin Adeyemi (Aunty Seyi)
Marta Ehinome (Ngozi)
Ayo Lijadu (Baba)
Patrick Diabuah (Felix)
Adesina Babalola (Gbemi)
Uzoamaka Aniunoh (Abike, waitress)
Toby Monday Solomon (conductor)
Adodo Emmanuel (fair skinned man)
Yetunde Victoria Coker (disgruntled passenger)
Itunu Olowolaju (bus man)
Ikechukwu Gabriel (older man)
Stephen Taiwo Joseph (bus passenger)
Patrick Essien (truck passenger)
Ijeh Andrew (taxi driver)
Paul Edobor (patron)
Chika Eze, Mayowa Olayinka (Mayor G), Abayomi Japheth, Oreofe Oguntola, Ebuka Igwe, Justice Moneke, Oluwatosin Jimoh, Micah Mavin, Willie-Eze U. Stanley (bukka customers)
Wale Davies (bridge prophet)
Daniel Uche (ice cream vendor 1)
Chima Stephen (ice cream vendor 2)
Lawrence Chu (Segun)
Fred Ideh (man at bar)
Solomon Oluboyo (bar customer 1)
David Apemiye (bar customer 2)
Sunday Godwin (car driver)
Inusa Ubby, Tobi Odunsi, Ugeonyemechi David Patrick (soldiers)
Ogini Bernard (bony scholarly man)
Victoria Jonah (plus sized woman)
Omolabake Kareem Temitope (young lady)
Okunola Mary Boluwatife (bus passenger)
Victoria Adebayo (friend)
Tough Bone (bus driver)
Mirabel Oluwatiresimi Ojo (kiosk daughter)
Esther Ogumka (mother vendor)
Ogunleye Iretibunmi (young vendor)
Philips Clinton Ihakonye (truck driver)
Abdullahi Duke (man on skateboard)
Hussein Mohammed (blind beggar)
Oduntan Folashade (market vendor)
Diji Emmanuel (background customer)
Confidence Chuwekwe (female customer, bar)
Praise Eddo (woman in couple)
Aba Abdullahi (blind beggar’s guide)
Iloosie Omonhinmin (newscaster – VO)
Jomi Bello (IBB military leader)
David Nsikak, Enwere Obinna James, Afolabi Olorunwa Adekomaiya, Gerald Unimke Bishung, Abraham Uwa (band members)
Stephen Joseph, Kelvin Amoabi, Isaac Maduabuli (TV advert)
UK-Germany 2025©
94 mins
Digital
A MUBI release
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Programme notes and credits compiled by Sight and Sound and the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
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