When the results of the 12th Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards were announced at Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos on May 9, 2026, one film walked away carrying more weight than any other on the night. My Father’s Shadow — directed by Akinola Davies Jr. — won Best Film at AMVCA 2026, and the victory felt like more than just an award. It felt like a reckoning.
The film didn’t just win once. It swept. Five awards from seven nominations — Best Film, Best Director, Best Writing, Best Music/Score, and Best Sound Design. No other film came close to that kind of dominance at this year’s ceremony. And the fact that it happened for a film this quiet, this personal, and this deliberately un-commercial says everything about where Nigerian cinema’s critical consciousness currently sits.
What My Father’s Shadow is actually about
For those who haven’t seen it yet — and you should fix that immediately — My Father’s Shadow is a semi-autobiographical drama written and directed by Akinola Davies Jr., co-written with his brother Wale Davies. The film takes place over the course of a single day in Lagos during the 1993 Nigerian presidential election crisis — a period of deep political tension that older Nigerians remember with a particular kind of heaviness.
The story follows Fola, a father estranged from his two young sons Remi and Akin, as he takes them through the city on what should be a simple errand — collecting his delayed salary. What unfolds is a day of movement, memory, and quiet revelation. The Lagos they travel through is vast and indifferent and beautiful all at once. Fola carries the weight of a marriage that fell apart and a fatherhood he hasn’t quite figured out how to perform. The boys are just trying to understand the city, and the man, in front of them.
Starring Sope Dirisu alongside Godwin Chiemerie Egbo and Chibuike Marvellous Egbo as the two brothers, the film has a tenderness to it that most Nigerian cinema — which typically operates at a louder, more commercial register — doesn’t attempt. The camera lingers. Silences are trusted. The emotion earns itself rather than being announced.
The Cannes moment that changed the conversation
Before AMVCA 2026 put its official stamp on the film’s legacy, My Father’s Shadow had already made history at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. It became the first Nigerian film ever selected for the Official Selection at Cannes — not a sidebar, not a parallel section. The main programme. That alone was a landmark that many Nigerian film industry observers said would take decades longer to achieve.
At Cannes, the film received the Special Mention for the Caméra d’Or. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 98% critics rating with 82 reviews — a number that very few films of any nationality manage. Roger Ebert’s website called it “an enchanting tale of generational memory.” These are not the reviews a Nollywood film has historically been receiving from international press.
Why the AMVCA win matters beyond the trophy
There’s sometimes a tension in Nigerian entertainment conversations between commercial success and critical prestige. The films that break box office records are not always the films that critics and industry professionals consider the year’s most significant work. My Father’s Shadow operated in a space that doesn’t always win awards ceremonies — it was too quiet, too art-house, too international in its production pedigree.
The fact that the AMVCA jury — which included Debbie Odutayo, Steve Ayorinde, Chris Ihidero, and others — chose this film above louder, bigger-budget, more commercially visible contenders is a signal. It suggests that Nigerian cinema’s taste-making establishment is increasingly willing to celebrate formal ambition alongside popular entertainment. That’s a healthy development for an industry that needs both to grow.
The June re-release — catch it while you can
Following its AMVCA sweep, Fatherland Productions and FilmOne Entertainment announced a limited re-release of My Father’s Shadow in Nigerian cinemas from June 5, 2026. This is a second chance for audiences who missed its September 2025 theatrical run, and for those who did see it, there’s a strong argument for going again.
In his response to the AMVCA wins, Akinola Davies Jr. said: “I’m genuinely overwhelmed. My Father’s Shadow was a deeply personal journey, and your recognition means more than I can put into words.”
If you haven’t yet made room in your schedule for this film, let this be the push you needed. It is, without question, one of the most significant things Nigerian cinema has produced — and the awards are finally catching up with what the film always deserved.
The bottom line
My Father’s Shadow winning Best Film at AMVCA 2026 isn’t just good news for Akinola Davies Jr. It’s good news for Nigerian cinema as a whole. It tells the world — and more importantly, tells the industry itself — that there is an audience and an establishment that will celebrate work of this depth. That’s the kind of signal that shapes what gets made next.
Go see it. Then come back and tell us what you thought.
Have you watched My Father’s Shadow? Drop your review in the comments.
