Akinola Davies Jr.

Akinola Davies Jr.
Davies at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
Born	London, United Kingdom
Nationality	British Nigerian
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter
Years active	2018–present

Akinola Davies Jr. is a British-Nigerian filmmaker, writer, and visual artist.

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]}

Career

He went on to start creating music videos and commercials brands like Gucci, Acne Studios, Moncler, Kenzo, Mulberry, and Louis Vuitton. ^{[3] [4]}

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. ^[5]

In 2025, Davies made his feature-length directorial debut with My Father's Shadow , co-written with his brother Wale Davies. 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. ^{[6] [7]}

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2018	Contactless	Director, writer	Short film	[8]
2019	Black to Life	Director, writer	BBC TV series	[9]
2020	Lizard	Director, co-writer	Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner	[10]
2025	My Father's Shadow	Director, co-writer	Feature film debut	[11]

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. Vogue (2021-06-25). "The Jury • Photo Vogue Festival 2021". Vogue. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
4. "Gucci's holiday ad recreates a '90s office party that looks a lot like the '70s". adage.com. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
5. "Filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr Explores Nollywood and Hollywood Overlap | OkayAfrica". www.okayafrica.com. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
6. Okogba, Emmanuel (2025-05-19). "Nigeria needs good fathers, says Akinola Davies Jr, director who made Cannes history". Vanguard News. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
7. 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.
8. Dazed (2018-04-22). "Watch three films predicting what fashion will look like in 2030". Dazed. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
9. "BBC - Alt History - Why I made the series 'Black to Life'". BBC. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
10. 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.
11. tkhaldi (2025-05-18). "My Father's Shadow as seen by Akinola Davies Jr". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 2025-05-21.