MY FATHER’S SHADOW

Watch The Trailer

Storyline (warning: spoilers)

There is a magical bond shared between fathers and sons, and from brother to brother. It transcends boundaries and time. It pushes past planes of existence. It remains deep within the heart and is conjured by related blood, generational memory, and tough lessons learned along the way. This spirit is what stirs My Father’s Shadow and fills the emotional space between the viewer and the screen.
This is an enchanting film. At every moment, one feels spellbound by its earnest aims and its heartwarming excursions. We travel with these young brothers and their father from their modest village toward a bustling city. During their sojourn, we encounter the tensions pulled by a pivotal presidential election. Nevertheless, this isn’t really a political film. It’s about the grave rippling effects an authoritarian regime can have on a family living under it.
This semi-autobiographical film begins at the worn Nigerian village home of Remi (Chibuike Marvellous Egbo) and Akin (Godwin Chimerie Egbo). The brothers are bored and alone; their mother has left for the day, and their father is nowhere to be found. Consequently, they make a kind of wish for their father, Fola (Sope Dirisu), to return. They find him exiting the shower. He provides very little explanation about where he’s been, only that he’s been working. Fola’s upright frame is resolute and initially unapproachable. Is this terse man whose stern expressions cut deep into his face a loving man? He is. Fola invites his young sons to take a trip to Lagos, where he must recover six months’ worth of backpay from his factory.
My Father’s Shadow is a must for the theatre not solely for the exceptional visual language but also because of its entrancing soundscape, which first takes shape in Duval Timothy and CJ Mira’s mercurial score. And while Davies can sometimes work too hard to telegraph that something isn’t quite right, such filmic determination is softened by the natural performances delivered by this small ensemble.