A whispered memory, a flickering image, a dreamlike aura of tenderness and threat: These essential elements are enough for Akinola Davies Jr. to evoke a time, place, and perspective so lifelike and rich they are almost palpable. Outwardly, the first feature film of the filmmaker, who identifies as a member of the global diaspora, is a work of contradictions: It is dreamlike, yet of almost documentarian realism, brutal but full of love. It has moments of disorienting fear and others of lighthearted humor. Its story is painfully sad and intensely joyful, its narrative both political and personal. The grainy images conjure up one distinct time and place, though what they show feels universal.
Set against the backdrop of the 1993 Nigerian elections, as the country is suspended between hope and collapse, the autobiographical coming-of-age-tale into a cinematic archaeology of memory. Like a ghostly, invisible presence, the camera lingers around the 11-year-old protagonist Remi and his younger brother Akin who live sheltered, yet sometimes lonely, in their parents’ rural home. The boys, with engaging naturalism played by real-life brothers Chibuike Marvellous Egbo and Godwin Egbo, are whisked away from their routine by their estranged father Folarin. In this key role, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù gives a performance taut with subtle ambivalence. As the kids unexpectedly find him in his room, it is almost as if they would see a ghost.
But even if their father at first glance might seem like an intruder and intimidating authority figure, his rapport with the kids reveals deep affection and care. On a whim, he takes them on an important work errand – as the thoughtfully constructed plot reveals, to recover unpaid wages – to Lagos. In the eyes of the boys this trip, starting out on a tightly packed bus, is a rare adventure. For Rim who is more observant and perceptive about the events around them, it is also a journey towards adulthood. Their odyssey through the bustling capital on the cusp of breakdown teaches him essential lessons about politics, family, and the contradictions of love. As the capital pulses with kinetic chaos, the camera stays tightly attuned to interpersonal silences and glances.
Refusing flat exposition, Davies weaves the political context into the backdrop. Tension pulses in the anxious murmurs of radio broadcasts, excited debates among people in bars and buses, a few words from a newspaper headline about a massacre, half-heard snippets from TV announcements. The capital becomes a lived-in geography: Hectic, crowded, loud, confusing, and colorful. A place rich in communal solidarity, but also rife with conflict and a latent danger constantly creeping closer. Cinematographer Jermaine Edwards composes with precision: long takes are punctuated by abrupt cuts, streets flicker in overexposed bursts, archival footage bleeds into fiction.
Grainy 16mm mimics the cinematic essence of the era, as if this story was actually shot during the times in which it unfurls. Texture, colors, and atmosphere weave themselves into the plot, becoming essential parts of a story about seismic events and subtle sensations. Davies Jr. co-wrote the script with his brother, Wale Davies, and it shows in its intimate specificity. Condensed into the timeframe of a single day, Davies Jr. creates a haunting meditation on absence and connection, personal and national disillusionment, and how fleeting moments can create permanent memories.
- OT: My Father’s Shadow
- Director: Akinola Davies Jr.
- Year: 2025
