''My Father's Shadow'' is a 2025

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film directed by Akinola Davies Jr., in his feature length film debut, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Wale Davies. Starring

Sope Dirisu Sope Dirisu (, ; born 1991) is an English actor. He made his film debut in 2016 with '' Sand Castle'', ''Criminal'', and '' The Huntsman: Winter's War''. Since 2020, he has starred as Elliot Carter / Finch in the Sky Atlantic series '' Gangs of ...

, it follows a family reunion during the 1993 Nigerian election. The film had its world premiere at the ''Un Certain Regard'' section of the

2025 Cannes Film Festival The 78th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 2025. French actress Juliette Binoche served as jury president for the main competition. Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the drama ...

on 18 May 2025, where it won the Special Mention for the ''Caméra d'Or''. It is the first ever Nigerian film to be selected for the festival's Official Selection.

Premise

Set against the backdrop of the

1993 Nigerian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Nigeria on 12 June 1993, the first since the 1983 military coup ended the country's Second Republic. The elections were the outcome of a transitional process to civilian rule spearheaded by the military rule ...

, two young brothers spend a day in Lagos with their estranged father.

Cast

*Godwin Chiemerie Egbo *Chibuike Marvellous Egbo

Production

The film is produced by

Element Pictures Element Pictures is an Irish film studio, cinema and television production company with production and distribution credits in more than 30 films. as well as a number of television series. Element Pictures also had a film and television distrib ...

and directed by Akinola Davies Jr. from a script he co-wrote with Wale Davies. It is produced in association with Crybaby and Fatherland Productions. It was developed by

BBC Film BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), Truly, ...

, who were a co-financer, and the

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, d ...

. Producers are Rachel Dargavel for

and Funmbi Ogunbanwo for Fatherland Productions. The Davies brothers developed the idea for the film over more than a decade, drawing inspiration from the loss of their father when they were both very young. In 2012, Wale wrote the first draft of the script, which centers on two brothers spending a day in Lagos with their father on the day of Nigeria’s historic 1993 presidential election, widely regarded as a turning point in the nation’s contemporary history.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

took place in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, Nigeria.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the ''Un Certain Regard'' section of the

on 18 May 2025. The streaming service

Mubi Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; the Auteurs before 2010) is a global streaming platform, production company and film distributor. MUBI produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusively available ...

acquired distribution rights for North America, the U.K., Ireland, and Turkey in February 2025.

Reception

Early reviews following the film's premiere at Cannes from media such as ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', '' IndieWire'', and ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' were widely favorable.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 35695538 British drama films Irish drama films BBC Film films British Film Institute films Films about father–son relationships Films set in Nigeria Films shot in Nigeria Films shot in Lagos Films set in Lagos Nigerian drama films 2025 drama films 2020s British films 2020s Irish films