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film · Wednesday 8 July 2026 · 7:30pm 
My Father's Shadow - Solstice Arts Centre Navan
At Solstice Arts Centre · Railway Street, Navan, Co. Meath
At Solstice Arts Centre · Railway Street, Navan, Co. Meath
Akinola Davies Jr’s debut feature arrived at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival as the first Nigerian film ever selected for the Official Selection, and it left with a Special Mention for the Caméra d’Or. A BAFTA for Outstanding Debut and a 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes followed. ACCESS Cinema brings it to Solstice Arts Centre in Navan for a single screening on 8 July 2026 - a rare chance to catch one of the most praised art-house films of the past year on a proper screen, in good company, without travelling to Dublin.
The film takes place over a single day in Lagos, 1993. Brothers Akin and Remi barely know their father Fola; he has been absent long enough that they have stopped expecting him. He reappears with a plan: travel into the city to collect six months of unpaid wages. What follows is a semi-autobiographical portrait of a fractured family navigating a metropolis on the edge of democratic collapse - the Nigerian election crisis of that year forms the backdrop as the three of them move through Lagos together.
Sope Dirisu plays the father, and critics have singled him out as commanding throughout. The film is in English and Yoruba with English subtitles, runs 94 minutes, and carries a 12A cert. It is quiet, deliberately paced, and rewards attention. The critical consensus describes it as weaving high-stakes political commentary with rich personal dynamics - but it lands as intimate rather than heavy. This is the kind of film that stays with you on the drive home.
The screening is presented by ACCESS Cinema, the Irish network that brings independent and world cinema to arts venues and film societies across the country, giving regional audiences access to titles that otherwise pass through Dublin only.
Solstice Arts Centre sits on Railway Street in the centre of Navan, close to the town’s bus terminus. Bus Eireann runs regular services from Dublin (route 100 from Busaras, roughly one hour), and Navan is an easy 45-minute drive from Dublin on the M3/N3. On-street parking is available around Railway Street and in the nearby town-centre car parks.
Navan is the county town of Meath and a practical base for exploring the Boyne Valley. There is more to see in Navan and across Co. Meath.
Heading to Solstice Arts Centre in Navan? Meath has plenty more to see. Read the Navan area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.