If like us you’ve been wondering why Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (aka Mr Eko on Lost) has been keeping a low profile in the last few years, all becomes clear when you see what he’s been cooking. The British actor has bounded back in a big way with his stunningly moving directorial debut, Farming.

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Agbaje has had a very successful career, starring as convict Simon Adebisi in HBOs Oz and numerous high profile movie roles including The Bourne Identity, The Mummy Returns and Thor: The Dark World to name a few, but he went all the way back to his life as a young boy struggling to come to terms with his identity for his directorial debut.

Farming charts the extraordinary journey of a young fostered Nigerian boy who, struggling to find an identity, falls in with a skinhead gang in 1980’s England. Farming refers to the very common practice, in the 60s, 70s and 80s, of Nigerian parents sending their children to live in the UK with white foster parents with the hope that they would be exposed to better opportunities.

Adewale reportedly based his new film on his own life experiences. Farming tells his story. At six weeks old, Enitan (Zephan Amissah) is left in the care of a white working- class family in the dock-town of Tilbury, in Essex. His new surrogate mother, Ingrid (Kate Beckinsale), makes for a complex, but dubious foster parent. Unsure of his place in the world, and lacking a mother’s love, desperate to belong, the teenage Enitan (played magnificently by Damson Idris) spirals into self-destruction, falling in with a local skinhead gang led by Levi (John Dagleish).

Farming film

When all seems lost, a sympathetic teacher, Miss Dapo (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), offers him one last shot at redemption.

Told with brutal honesty, Farming is an unflinching autobiographical portrait of a young man who must battle the odds and realise that, in a world of hate, his toughest battle will be learning to love himself.

Farming is written and directed by Agbaje and he also makes an appearance in the film alongside an exciting cast, including the popular Nigerian actress, Genevieve Nnaji.

On the strength of the trailer alone, we predict big things come award season. Welcome back Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje!

Farming is released in UK cinemas on 11 October 2019.


Watch the trailer below..

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