Akinola Davies Jr's 'My Father's Shadow' premieres at Cannes, explores 1993 Nigerian election crisis

Akinola Davies Jr, five years after winning the Sundance Film Festival Best Short Film award for 'Lizard', makes his feature debut with 'My Father's Shadow', which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, where it received a special mention for the Caméra d'Or. Co-written with his brother Wale Davies, the film is set over a single day in Lagos during the 1993 Nigerian presidential election crisis, following a father separated from his two children as the city teeters on the brink of collapse. The election annulment, which denied Moshood Abiola (MKO) victory, triggered a new phase of military repression and human rights violations. The Davies brothers, who lost their father at a young age, developed the project over more than a decade, starting from a first draft in 2012. Lagos is portrayed as a character itself, with cinematographer Jermaine Edwards contrasting it with Ibadan's greener, quieter landscape. Costume designer PC Williams, a BAFTA winner and longtime collaborator of Akinola, researched the period using the Davies brothers' childhood photographs, creating a mix of Western and traditional clothing with muted, painterly tones. The film is released in theaters by MUBI.