Nigerian cinema joins A-list with Akinola Davies Jr's debut 'My Father's Shadow'

Nigeria’s thriving, domestic-focused Nollywood may sit just behind the likes of Holly­wood and Bollywood as one of the world’s largest film industries, but Cannes Film Festival has for decades remained elusive. This year, however, it cracked the A-list festival circuit with Akinola Davies Jr’s My Father’s Shadow.

Premiering in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard sidebar, the film is a UK-Nigeria collaboration between London and Dublin-based Element Pictures, Lagos-outfit Fatherland and the UK’s Crybaby. It marks the feature debut of Davies Jr, who wrote it with his brother Wale Davies.

Shot on 16mm, the semi-autobiographical film follows two brothers (played by real-life siblings Godwin Egbo and Chibuike Marvellous Egbo) and their father (played by Sopé Dìrísù) as they visit the vibrant Nigerian capital of Lagos on the eve of the 1993 presidential election results — the first of its kind in 10 years and a watershed moment as the country looked to end military rule. It was shot entirely on location in Lagos.

Element and Fatherland previously collaborated on Davies Jr’s Sundance prize-winning short film Lizard, which also shot in Lagos. However, while that project filmed in one place, My Father’s Shadow traversed two states and 17 locations over six weeks. The schedule created a logistical jigsaw for producers Rachel Dargavel of Element and Funmbi Ogunbanwo of Fatherland, but also gave the film a “propulsive feeling” of being on a journey and contending with changing environments.

“Each of those locations is in a different part of [Lagos],” says Dargavel, noting the team had just a day or two to shoot in each place. “Fundamentally, the film starts its journey outside of Lagos, in Ibadan, but then it’s a road-trip movie that spans the whole city. It was important to Akinola that this was a love letter to Lagos.”

Set in the early 1990s, the production had to ensure modern-day Lagos — a rapidly developing metropolis of more than 21 million people — properly reflected the era. Shooting locations included Balogun market, the National Theatre, Apapa Amusement Park and the Third Mainland Bridge (the second-longest bridge in Africa).

There were enough corners of Lagos and its neighbourhoods that still had a ’90s architectural and cultural feel, but Dargavel admits the team “got into Lagos just in time”, before dating the city became a more arduous undertaking as it modernises. “In another five years, it’ll be harder to pull that off,” she says.

Filming permission

Nigeria does not yet have a formal co-production treaty in place with any country beyond an agreement with South Africa, but the Lagos State Film and Video Censors Board — which manages filming permits — is generous towards local and international productions, says Ogunbanwo. The sole filming challenge, she notes, was securing a permit for the Third Mainland Bridge, mainly because it had been closed for a long period before miraculously reopening in time for the shoot.

My Father’s Shadow is backed by BBC Film and the BFI, in association with The Match Factory, Fremantle, Electric Theatre Collective and Mubi, which is distributing it in North America, the UK, Ireland and Turkey. The Match Factory hand­les worldwide sales on the project.

“The infrastructure for financing is something that is still developing in Nigeria, as far as film is concerned,” says Ogunbanwo. “Private and public government entities are actively trying to develop the entire ecosystem where financing is concerned for film and for TV, but I wouldn’t say it’s quite set yet.”

Teaming up with a Nigerian producer is not mandatory to film locally, but Dargavel advises working closely with a partner, particularly as Nigerian crews are used to creative problem-solving around the “peace and chaos” of Lagos.

“Parachuting into a city like Lagos to do a shoot without local infrastructure or knowledge would be very difficult to pull off,” says Dargavel.

The majority of crew were Nigerian, with some UK heads of department and other international crew. Most of the camera and grip equipment came from the UK, due largely to the 16mm requirements; lighting was sourced locally.

Dargavel’s top tip for shooting in Nigeria is having a strong grasp of insurance expectations, particularly for international financiers.

“I don’t think any of us really knew the levels of cover we’d require to satisfy our insurers in the UK and the financiers,” says the producer. “It was incredibly expensive to do it locally. We got there in the end, but it was a jigsaw in terms of insuring.