One of the bravest and often most challenging parts of making a film is realising that every piece of art one creates is rooted in the personal, even if it isn’t intentional. We all tell stories that resonate with us, and even the most abstract and experimental works are often formed as a result of our relationship with ourselves and our surroundings. On occasion, we allow our personal histories to actively guide the process of telling certain stories, which is the case with My Father’s Shadow, the directorial debut of Akinola Davies Jr., which he co-wrote with his brother Wale Davies, in which they reflect on their own upbringing in Nigeria, particularly their relationship with their father, who died when they were quite young. Set in 1993 during the Nigerian elections (a watershed moment for the country, particularly considering the tensions and violence that threatened to tear the entire nation apart at the seams), the film follows brothers Aki and Olaremi as they travel with their father from their small rural village to Lagos, where they spend the day exploring the big city, accompanied by a parent who is rarely home, but whose affection for them still manifests in very unexpected ways, trying his best to impart wisdom during what he secretly knows is only a temporary moment of connection. A brilliant, poetic exploration of both family and culture, My Father’s Shadow is a truly surprising film, a work of incredible artistry that blurs the lines between fiction and reality in a way that positions Davies as one of our most promising, daring young filmmakers, and someone whose work reflects a deep sensitivity and profound attention to detail that both captures the spirit of a time and place that defined his childhood, and communicates complex ideas to which every one of us can relate in some way or another, even if the specific milieux that inform this film may be extremely specific at times. One of the year’s most staggering artistic achievements, and frankly one that contains some of the most honest, daring statements of purpose we’ve seen in quite some time, My Father’s Shadow is an extraordinary piece of filmmaking, and one that is going to be seen as a major work, especially as we continue to see African cinema become more visible on the global stage.

My Father’s Shadow is a film rich in thematic content, which is clear from the very beginning. The director refuses to be too heavy-handed in how he approaches these ideas, with the film being a more quiet exploration of identity through the eyes of a pair of brothers who leap at the opportunity to get to know their father, a man who is frequently absent from home, but who seems to have enough affection for them to be willing to share whatever time he can spare to educate them on the nature of life and its many challenges. It is set at a crucial moment in Nigeria’s history – the 1993 elections were a defining period, albeit one filled with extreme violence, insurmountable poverty and a seemingly never-ending stream of tensions between feuding groups, all of which form the foundation of this film. It’s not a detailed history of the period, but rather one that uses the election as a means to comment on the period, as seen through the eyes of two people who were caught in a very awkward space in their lives – old enough to recognise and process the tensions that surrounded them, but too young to actually understand the situation or how it impacted them. As the film progresses, Davies reflects on his own upbringing. It’s not directly autobiographical, since the siblings left their native Nigeria when they were much younger than the protagonists of this film, but there is enough contained in this film to be a relatively accurate assessment of the period, done through the combination of their memories and those of their surviving relatives and acquaintances who had more knowledge, as well as the historical context, which is beautifully documented throughout the film. The core themes that My Father’s Shadow covers are made quite clear – it’s not only a story about a father trying to reconnect with his children, with whom he’s had a difficult relationship, but also a poignant tale of two young boys trying to make sense of a world that they frankly do not understand, but which they do recognise as being far more difficult to navigate than they imagined. It defines itself as both a historical drama and a coming-of-age story, the two being unexpectedly cohesive and truly quite extraordinary.

The simplicity of the story in My Father’s Shadow cannot be understated, but it should be noted that it’s not a pedestrian film – it follows a straightforward narrative, but does so through a quietly provocative artistic approach, one defined by the director’s willingness to take a few risks in terms of structure and tone. The core of the film is to show these events through the eyes of child protagonists, which is not as easy as it seems on the surface – not only is it exploring a major moment in the nation’s history, but it is filtering it through the perspective of people too young to actually comprehend how they are witnessing history unfolding right in front of them. To do this, Davies attempts to look at the world through younger eyes, which is a challenging approach – we tend to assert our own adult logic when it comes to reflecting on the past, which can often lead to over-extension in terms of how we perceive these crucial moments, our memories interweaving with the more formal knowledge we develop later on in life. This is a film about innocence and how society can often strip it away from the most impressionable souls, and to achieve this (which is an idea that can only be communicated through emotions rather than words or images), the director focuses on the atmosphere. The dreamlike tone comes through in the images, which capture Lagos at a very critical moment in its past – the hustle and bustle of the big city is carefully cobbled together, the director doing his best to recreate the city of his childhood without becoming too focused on the smallest details. My Father’s Shadow is as much a story of the protagonists and their father as it is a film where the city itself becomes a character – and the stunning cinematography by Jermaine Edwards (which oscillates between gritty, intimate handheld camera work and sweeping shots of the urban landscape) creates a vibrant, complex picture of one of Africa’s most important cities, which has never been captured in more striking detail. It all works towards defining this film as more than just a simple coming-of-age story, but rather a complex, vivid portrait of a society that seemed to be on the edge of collapse, showcasing the many nuances that went into the creation of this beautiful and daring story.

Something that makes My Father’s Shadow so compelling emerges when we look at the characters and how they’re created. The protagonists of this film seem to be easy to understand – two precocious pre-teens who are gradually making their way towards adolescence, and their absent father who enters back into their lives when they least expect it. Part of this comes from the casting choices – Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù has been gradually making quite a name for himself as a dramatic actor, someone whose skillful approach to all of his roles has not gone unnoticed, especially since he actively searches for parts that allow him to bring his own interpretation to the project. He is paying tribute to his own Nigerian heritage in this film, and he is likely drawing from the cultural nuances that come with being the child of immigrants, whose story may not be directly related to this film, but who nonetheless instilled in him a sense of cultural appreciation and the desire to honour the country of his ancestors. He’s stellar in the film – it’s a quiet, internal performance that seems to be constantly on the verge of eruption, but where he keeps everything firmly in his control, which turns the character into a far more complex individual, more than just the archetype of the absent father attempting to reconnect with his children. However, Dìrísù is surprisingly secondary, despite being the most notable person in the cast, solely because of the actors playing his son, the two protagonists who anchor the film. My Father’s Shadow is the first acting credit for real-life brothers Chibuike Marvellous Egbo and Godwin Chiemerie Egbo, who are beyond description – they’re clearly novices (and some of their line readings do feel slightly rehearsed), but their inexperience brings a raw, natural quality to the film that immediately elevates it to impossible heights. The decision to cast brothers is exceptional, since not only does it make the story more believable, but it adds a layer of authenticity to their dynamic – the chemistry is palpable, and they are clearly at ease with one another, which is the quality around which Davies constructs this entire story. The trio of performances are extraordinary, and exudes a sense of authenticity that we simply cannot overlook or take for granted, turning this film from a potentially minor story of a father’s relationship with his children, and turning it into one of the most moving films of the year.

At a glance, My Father’s Shadow seems to be a relatively simple film, telling a familiar story with the same usual devices we would expect. However, while it is quite straightforward in terms of its narrative, the additional components – whether its the performances, the execution or even the smallest details found in the director’s decisions – make this one of the year’s most incredible films, a daring and provocative existential odyssey that looks not only at Nigeria’s history, but also deeper themes relating to family, identity and community, all of which are woven together beautifully throughout this film, which is easily one of the most unforgettable in recent memory. The film’s reflections on the past through the eyes of two children as they navigate what they don’t realise will likely be the most defining moment of their young lives is extraordinary, and Davies never once attempts to provide answers to many of these questions, a result of someone whose active engagement with the narrative and refusal to take the most obvious paths manifests in something so incredibly compelling, an approach that indicates that he is someone whose voice is nothing if not entirely essential. It’s a beautiful, daring and extraordinarily complex film – and it frequently pushes the boundaries without announcing itself as some overly dense historical drama. It has a sense of intimacy and quietness, to the point where the viewer feels like a voyeur, peering into the most private moments between this father and his two sons as they attempt to understand one another and form a bond when nothing actually binds them together other than their familial relationship. One of the most beautiful depictions of the intersections between family and culture produced in recent years, My Father’s Shadow is an astonishing achievement, and simply one of the best films of the year in terms of formal style, narrative and emotion, all of which work together to create what is most definitely going to become one of this decade’s defining masterpieces.