MY FATHER’S SHADOW Discovery

History, memory and nostalgia blends into a vividly realized work of autofiction in Nigeria’s first ever Cannes selection and winner of the Caméra d’or Special Mention. It is June 12, 1993 — the first election of the country since a military coup a decade ago. Far away in the outskirts of Lagos, unaware and carefree, young brothers Akin and Remi (played by real-life brothers Godwin Chimerie Egbo and Chibuike Marvellous Egbo) escape the sweltering summer heat in the shade, bickering over toys. They find their absent father, Folarin (Sope Dirisu) has suddenly returned home, and he allows the boys to tag along on his hasty trip back to the old capital. Over the course of this transformative day teeming with a nation’s uncertainty, captured in hazy, intimate closeups, Akin and Remi’s initial cautious regard soon blossoms into an achingly honest traverse of tenderness and austerity between a mythical father and curious sons. Director Akinola Davies Jr., along with co-writer and brother Wale Davies, invoke the memories of their own youth in this delicately, lyrically crafted ode to fatherhood and brotherhood. –Anna Li