Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù to Lead Akinola Davies Jnr’s MUBI-Acquired, BBC & BFI-Backed Feature Debut

Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (“His House,” “Gangs of London”) will star in “My Father’s Shadow,” the feature directorial debut of Akinola Davies Jnr.

The film is an Element Pictures production in association with Crybaby and Fatherland Productions. Written by Wale Davies and Akinola Davies Jnr, the project follows their previous collaboration on the short film “Lizard,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2021 and received a BAFTA nomination for Best British Short Film.

Developed by BBC Film, which also supported “Lizard,” “My Father’s Shadow” was co-financed by BBC Film and the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding).

The Match Factory is handling worldwide sales.

Meanwhile, MUBI pre-bought all rights in North America, the UK, Ireland, and Turkey. The distributor’s theatrical plans for North America and the UK/Ireland will be announced in the coming months.

Set in Lagos, “My Father’s Shadow” follows two brothers, Remi and Akin, who unexpectedly spend a day with their estranged father, Folarin. As they journey through the vast city, witnessing his daily struggles to provide, the looming 1993 presidential election result threatens to derail their return home.

Akoroko Premium subscribers received a contextualized assessment of this news. Subscribe at the link in the bio to receive the newsletter and more, or copy/paste: https://akoroko.com/subscribe/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *