Akinola Davies Jr. has been on quite the run this year. The British-Nigerian filmmaker’s feature directorial debut, My Father’s Shadow , premiered in the Un Certain Regard program at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it received a special mention for the Camera d’Or Award. More recently, the Lagos-set coming-of-age tale led the nominations for the 2025 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) with 12 nods. It is also the official U.K. submission for the best international feature film Oscar .

Previously, Davies’ narrative short Lizard premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and getting nominated for the BAFTA for Best British Short. In addition to his work in narrative film, he has directed music videos for such artists as Kae

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