The Last Tree

Shola Amoo's 2019 British film follows Femi, raised by a foster parent in rural Lincolnshire. Of Nigerian heritage, in adolescence he moves to his birth mother in inner-city London and lands inside a culture he does not know. The idea is belonging changing place. In the countryside Femi was different because he was Black; in London he is different because he is not sufficiently of the place. The narrative does not tell him which identity is right and leaves the choice to him. Amoo drew on his own childhood. The first section was shot with wide angles and natural light and the second in tight frames; the form carries the change of place directly. Samuel Adewunmi plays the teenage Femi. Who it's for: those who like British independent cinema and coming-of-age stories about identity. Who it's not for: viewers looking for a fast narrative; the film works with long silences.