Akinola Davies Jr’s My Father’s Shadow has been selected as the UK entry for the best international feature Oscar award. The film was chosen by t
Akinola Davies Jr’s My Father’s Shadow has been selected as the UK entry for the best international feature Oscar award.
The film was chosen by the UK selection committee, which is composed of members or representatives of Bafta’s film committee.
Davies Jr’s debut feature My Father’s Shadow premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes this year, before an extensive festival tour that has taken in Sydney, Karlovy Vary, Melbourne, Toronto, Busan and Hamburg. It will play at the BFI London Film Festival later this week.
Filmed and set in Nigeria, My Father’s Shadow follows two adolescent brothers on one day exploring Lagos with their estranged father during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis. The film uses Yoruba, Naija-Pidgin and English language.
Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù leads the cast, alongside newcomers Godwin Egbo and Chibuike Marvellous Egbo.
The film is produced by Rachel Dargavel for Crybaby Films and Element Pictures, and Funmbi Ogunbanwo for Fatherland Productions. The Match Factory handles world sales, with Mubi holding rights for key territories including US and UK-Ireland.
Executive producers are Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe for Element Pictures, Eva Yates for BBC Film, Ama Ampadu for the BFI, Christian Vesper for Fremantle, Wale Davies, Dìrísù and Davies Jr.
BBC Film developed the title, which was co-financed by BBC Film and the BFI Film Fund.
Davies Jr. and Dìrísù have both previously been named Screen UK-Ireland Stars of Tomorrow, in 2020 and 2016 respectively.
Submissions for the international feature Oscar closed on October 1. The shortlist will be announced on December 16, with the five nominees revealed on January 22, 2026.
This is the UK’s 22nd submission to the international feature award. It has won once, in 2024 for Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone Of Interest; and received nominations for Paul Turner’s Hedd Wynn in 1994 and Paul Morrison’s Solomon & Gaenor in 2000.
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