My Father’s Shadow

Akinola Davies Jr.’s feature debut opens with a striking, stylish and thrilling montage. It is 1993 and election time in Nigeria, with the promise of a new democratic dispensation following years of military rule. Young brothers Remi and Akin squabble at their countryside home, and are then surprised to find that their estranged father Folarin (Dìrísù) has returned. With their mother away in the village, Folarin decides on a whim to take the boys with him to Lagos. Overwhelmed by the sensory overload of the megalopolis, Remi and Akin try to take in everything as Folarin goes about trying to get paid – his salary is months overdue. As they make their way through the city, they encounter differing political views – those excited at the prospect of the rule the favourite, MKO Abiola, and those who believe Nigeria needs “discipline” and military rule – and learn some valuable life lessons. With an incredible eye for unusual details, Davies Jr., in a snapshot of a particular experience, reveals a great deal about a family and a country in this most extraordinary of debuts.