acknowledgement of racial identity and just
being free and able to play,” says Amoo. “Even
with the metaphor of the mud, being the same
complexion. All that stuff we’re slowly going to
peel away as the narrative continues to unravel.
It was important to set out that idyllic imagery
at the start in Femi’s mind.”OPEN PRISON
Taken back to London to live with his
Nigerian mother Yinka (Gbemisola Ikumelo),
a resentful, sullen and deeply unhappy Femi
fi nds himself hemmed in by his new council-
estate surroundings, shot by Amoo and his
DP, Stil Williams, almost as if it were a Gothic
prison. “We were using the concept of location
as character,” says Amoo. “In Lincolnshire
it’s all about freedom, wide frames, lots of
light. When we get to London, things fall in
and out of focus, the camera is handheld,
and it’s a lot more concrete jungle. We
were conscious of that transition, visually.
It’s about Femi’s perception of the world
he’s in.”WHAT’S IN A NAME?
At school, Femi is shocked when his new
classmates make fun of him for his name.
“When I was growing up, there was defi nitely
still a strangeness around African-ness,” says
Amoo. “That’s improved a lot over the years
because of a combination of things, but at the
time it was tied to white supremacy. The more
Anglicised you were, the more accepted you
were. If your name’s Dean or Tommy when
you’re black, that’s received better. Olafemi is
African and exotic and strange, and kids would
get picked on for that sort of thing. It’s really of
the time that it’s set.”GROWING UP FAST
At various points in the fi lm, Amoo transitions
from one version of Femi to another in a lyrical,
almost impressionistic way. Here, he bleeds
images of young Femi into the teenage version
(Sam Adewunmi), who’s become somewhat
hardened over the years. “I was trying to fi nd
a more interesting way to show the passage
of time and changes in the character andThe Last
Tr e e
DIRECTOR SHOLA AMOO on the standout
moments from his poetic tale of a young black
man growing up in London in the ’90s.
HOWL LIKE A WOLF CUB
Shola Amoo’s The Last Tree tells the story of
a young black man called Femi as he struggles
to adapt to life in London. But the movie begins
with Femi as a child (played by Tai Golding),
living with his foster mum in rural Lincolnshire,
bonding and playing with his friends, for whom
his race isn’t a factor. “It just was important
to see kids at that age before they have an
A deep dive into the
must-see moments from
the month’s big releaseTHE
VIEWING
GUIDE
!
SPOILER
WARNINGREVIEW