The composers share first music from the film, with an official soundtrack release and live-score screening set for February 2026.
Duval Timothy has joined forces with composer and sound designer CJ Mirra for his first full film soundtrack, written for the forthcoming My Father’s Shadow. Announced today, the pair have shared an early taste of the score with the release of the track Journey to Lagos.
The film marks the feature-length debut of director Akinola Davies Jr. and premiered at Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2025, where it made history as the first Nigerian production to appear in the festival’s official selection and received the Special Mention Caméra d’Or. Since then, it has gone on to collect 12 British Independent Film Award nominations – including Best Score and Best Sound – alongside multiple wins at The Gothams, and is the UK’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2026 Oscars.
Set across a single day during Nigeria’s 1993 election crisis, My Father’s Shadow follows an estranged father navigating Lagos with his two young sons as political unrest swells around them, turning a journey home into something far more precarious.
Across 12 tracks, Timothy and Mirra build a deeply expressive sonic world, the process of which began at the script stage, with Duval putting together early sketches in his Freetown studio and capturing field recordings while visiting the set in Ibadan.
With the film mostly seen through the eyes of Remi and Akin (played by brothers Chibuike Marvellous Egbo and Godwin Egbo), the score reflects a child’s sense of scale and wonder. Journey to Lagos depicts their first impressions of the city, while later pieces become more unsettled. Throughout, Roxanne Tataei’s voice recurs as an emotional echo of the boys’ absent mother. Sonically, it’s anchored by piano, which is played in both traditional and experimental ways, then shaped with vintage tape and early digital processing to echo the film’s period and 16mm atmosphere.
My Father’s Shadow – Official Motion Picture Soundtrack will be released on 6 February 2026 via Carrying Colour on vinyl, cassette and digital formats. The film opens in UK cinemas the same day.
A special live-score screening will follow on 7 February 2026 at Tate Modern’s South Tank, where the composers will perform the score alongside the film.
Tickets are available here. Watch the official trailer below.
