Akinola Davies Jr.

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Akinola Davies Jr.
Akinola Davies at 2025 Cannes Photocall for My Father's Shadow 2.jpg
Davies at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
Born
London, United Kingdom
OccupationsFilm director, screenwriter
Years active2018–present

Akinola Davies Jr. is a British-Nigerian filmmaker, writer, and visual artist. He is best known for his debut film My Father's Shadow, winning of a British Independent Film Award and a Gotham Independent Film Award.

Contents

Early life and education

Davies was born in London and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, and the United States. He began his career assisting photographers and filmmakers before pursuing formal training at the New York Film Academy, graduating in 2009. [1] [2] [3]

Career

He went on to start creating music videos and commercials brands like Gucci, Acne Studios, Moncler, Kenzo, Mulberry, and Louis Vuitton. [4] [5]

His 2020 short film Lizard , inspired by his childhood in Nigeria won the Grand Jury Prize for Short Film at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for Best British Short Film at the 2021 BAFTA Awards. Lizard also received a nomination from the London Critics Circle Film Awards and was selected for the BFI London Film Festival and Raindance Film Festival. [6]

In 2025, Davies made his feature-length directorial debut with My Father's Shadow , co-written with his brother Wale Davies. [7] [8] My Father's Shadow premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, making history as the first Nigerian film selected for Cannes' official selection, [9] winning the Caméra d'Or – Special Mention. [10] The film also received severals nominations on awards shows, winning the British Independent Film Award for Best Director and the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Director. [11]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotesRef
2018ContactlessDirector, writerShort film [12]
2019Black to LifeDirector, writerBBC TV series [13]
2020 Lizard Director, co-writerSundance Grand Jury Prize winner [14]
2025 My Father's Shadow Director, co-writerFeature film debut [15]


Awards and nominations

AwardYearCategoryWorkResultRef
Africa International Film Festival 2021Best Short FilmLizardNominated
BFI London Film Festival 2025 Sutherland Award My Father's ShadowNominated [16]
British Academy Film Awards 2021 Best Short Film LizardNominated [17]
British Independent Film Award 2020 Best British Independent Film My Father's ShadowNominated [18]
Best Director Won
Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) Nominated
Cannes Film Festival 2025 Un Certain Regard My Father's ShadowNominated
Caméra d'Or – Special MentionWon
Chicago International Film Festival 2025 Gold HugoMy Father's ShadowNominated [19]
Special MentionWon [20]
Gotham Independent Film Awards 2025 Breakthrough Director My Father's ShadowWon [21]
International Film Festival of India 2025 Special Jury Award My Father's ShadowWon [22]
London Critics Circle Film Awards 2020 British/Irish Short Film of the YearLizardNominated [23]
Seattle International Film Festival 2020Short Film Award – NarrativeLizardNominated
Seville European Film Festival 2025 Rampa AwardMy Father's ShadowWon [24]
Sundance Film Festival 2021 Short Film Grand Jury PrizeLizardWon [25]

References

  1. ↑ Randall, Melissa. "Akinola Davies Jr". NYFA. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  2. ↑ Bamigboye, Baz (2025-05-13). "Cannes One To Watch: How 'My Father's Shadow' Filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. Crafted A Nigerian Family Story In Buzzed-About Debut". Deadline. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  3. ↑ Blythe, Finn (July 11, 2025). "Akinola Davies Jr: 'I was never too good to turn my nose up at an opportunity'". The Observer . Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  4. ↑ Vogue (2021-06-25). "The Jury • Photo Vogue Festival 2021". Vogue. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  5. ↑ "Gucci's holiday ad recreates a '90s office party that looks a lot like the '70s". adage.com. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  6. ↑ "Filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr Explores Nollywood and Hollywood Overlap | OkayAfrica". www.okayafrica.com. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  7. ↑ Szalai, Georg (December 9, 2025). "Akinola Davies Jr. Confronts Family Legacy in U.K. Oscar Hopeful 'My Father's Shadow'". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  8. ↑ Bamigboye, Baz (May 13, 2025). "Cannes One To Watch: How 'My Father's Shadow' Filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. Crafted A Nigerian Family Story In Buzzed-About Debut". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  9. ↑ Obi, Ifi (April 16, 2025). "'My Father's Shadow' Makes History as Nigeria's First Official Selection at Cannes Film Festival". Rolling Stone Africa . Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  10. ↑ Rantala, Hanna; Murray, Miranda; Murray, Miranda (2025-05-20). "Nigeria's first film in Cannes lineup explores masculinity, family dynamics". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  11. ↑ Ritman, Alex (November 25, 2025). "'My Father's Shadow' Director Akinola Davies Jr. Among 2025 BAFTA Breakthroughs". Variety. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  12. ↑ Dazed (2018-04-22). "Watch three films predicting what fashion will look like in 2030". Dazed. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  13. ↑ "BBC - Alt History - Why I made the series 'Black to Life'". BBC. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  14. ↑ BellaNaija.com (2021-02-03). "Akinola Davies Jr's "Lizard" wins Short Film Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival". BellaNaija. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  15. ↑ tkhaldi (2025-05-18). "My Father's Shadow as seen by Akinola Davies Jr". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  16. ↑ Boyce, Laurence (4 September 2025). "The BFI London Film Festival lifts the lid on the titles for its 69th edition". Cineuropa . Archived from the original on 4 September 2025. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  17. ↑ "Bafta Film Awards 2021: The winners and nominees in full". BBC News. 11 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  18. ↑ "Winners and Nominations". BIFA. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  19. ↑ Jeremy Kay (10 September 2025). "'Sound Of Falling', 'Sirât', 'La Grazia' among Chicago international competition picks". ScreenDaily . Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  20. ↑ "Festival Award Winners". Cinema Chicago. Retrieved 2025-10-25.
  21. ↑ Pedersen, Jill Goldsmith,Erik (2025-12-02). "Gotham Awards Winners: Three For Jafar Panahi, Two For 'My Father's Shadow' – Updating Live". Deadline. Retrieved 2025-12-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ↑ Naman Ramachandran, Udita Jhunjhunwala (28 November 2025). "Transgender Vietnamese Drama 'Skin of Youth' Wins Top Prize at International Film Festival of India". Variety . Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  23. ↑ Ramachandran, Naman (12 January 2021). "'Saint Maud', 'Rocks', 'Nomadland' Top Women-Led London Critics' Circle Nominations". Variety . Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  24. ↑ "'We Believe You' gana el Giraldillo de Oro del 22 Festival de Cine Europeo de Sevilla". Europa Press (in Spanish). 15 November 2025. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
  25. ↑ "2021 Sundance Film Festival Awards Announced". www.sundance.org. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
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