Akinola Davies Jr.’s Ascent: A Star Student Joins the BAFTA Breakthrough Ranks

British-Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. has achieved remarkable momentum this year, transitioning from acclaimed short-form work to international feature film recognition. His feature directorial debut, My Father’s Shadow, premiered in the Un Certain Regard program at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it earned a special mention for the Caméra d’Or Award. More recently, the Lagos-set coming-of-age story secured an impressive twelve nominations at the 2025 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) and was selected as the official U.K. submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar.

This success follows Davies' prior narrative achievements, notably his short film Lizard, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prize and receiving a nomination for the BAFTA for Best British Short. In addition to his narrative work, the director has cultivated a distinct portfolio that includes music videos for artists such as Kae Tempest, Neneh Cherry, and Blood Orange, alongside commercial projects for major brands like Gucci, Kenzo, and Louis Vuitton, in roles both in front of and behind the camera.

Given this rapid, high-profile trajectory, it was entirely logical that Davies would be included in the 2025 BAFTA Breakthrough Brits list, an annual initiative supported by Netflix designed to spotlight emerging talent within the U.K. industry.

Despite the clear merit of his selection, the filmmaker was reportedly caught off guard by his inclusion in the latest Breakthrough cohort. In an interview, Davies admitted to initially skimming the notification email, believing he was merely being invited to an event. It was only upon giving the message his "full attention" that he realized, “holy shit,” the message read, “Congratulations!” He confirmed that the significance of the accolade only fully registered after speaking directly with the BAFTA team.

Davies expressed profound aspirations for the BAFTA Breakthrough experience, emphasizing a desire to immerse himself as a “real student of the craft.” His primary goal is to engage with a wide variety of industry professionals, including those working below the line and in specialized departments. He stated a keen interest in learning "the details of what people went through to get stuff made" and what specific technical aspects within their niche they "really geek out on." He views the opportunity as a chance to "coalesce a huge amount of opinions from everyone," with the aim of enhancing collaboration across all his departments. Davies ultimately hopes to emerge from the program feeling like he has been to "the best film holiday camp."

Acknowledging the career-boosting reality of the BAFTA Breakthrough platform, Davies recognized that it "massively increases [his] profile as a filmmaker." He expressed a commitment to embracing this increased profile "with a sense of responsibility to just keep learning and being a student as best as [he] can," ensuring that he continually earns the right to be recognized.

The experience holds a special resonance for Davies due to the simultaneous inclusion of an old friend, Nathalie Pitters, the director of photography on Brian and Maggie, in the same Breakthrough cohort. Davies recounted their unlikely origin story, recalling a time 16 or 17 years ago when they worked together as office runners, or on reception, in an advertising agency. He remembers asking Pitters about her goals, to which she replied that she wanted to be a cinematographer. Davies responded, "Oh, well, hopefully one day I’ll be a director and we can work with each other." They subsequently collaborated on several small productions. Finding out that they both reached the BAFTA list simultaneously was a "crazy story" and a shared moment of astonishment, having started with a distant dream while buying "fruit and milk for the office."

When asked about his prior relationship with Netflix, the primary supporter of the program, Davies revealed that he had not yet had the "privilege of meeting people at Netflix" and jokingly extended an invitation for them to "give [him] a shout!"