Oscar Buzz: Anthony Nti’s ‘DA YIE’ qualifies for consideration for 2021 Academy Awards

This stunning African film is an intense day trip in sunny Ghana, that endangers the innocence of two kids.

Co-written by the talented emerging duo Anthony Nti and Chingiz Karibekov, DA YIE has garnered four Oscar-qualifying Grand Prize (Leuven Short Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, Indy Short International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival) amongst its 25 awards and 140 high profile film festivals selections.

Young Matilda and Prince are taken on a life-changing trip by a stranger. Kids, gangsters and Ghana’s coast as you’ve never seen them.

The film is a Rondini – Caviar production that brought the Ghanaian diaspora and the local community together on set. DA YIE’s cast and crew is mainly Ghanaian – only a few department heads travelled with Anthony and Chingiz from Belgium to Ghana’s coast for the film shoot. Amongst them, the director of photography PJ Claessens whose outstanding cinematography shines a light on the brilliant performance of the young Ghanaian main characters Matilda and Prince.

Anthony Nti was born in Ghana and moved to Belgium where he studied film at the RITCS School of Arts in Brussels, becoming part of a colourful artistic scene, doing commercials and music videos with a multitude of talented young artists. His short, ​​BOI,​ won Best Debut at Leuven FF. He directed episodes of the Ketnet-show ‘Hoodie’.

DA YIE by Anthony Nti – Trailer from Salaud Morisset on Vimeo.

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Anthony Nti and writer-producer Chingiz Karibekov, born in Karagandy, Kazakhstan met while studying film in Brussels. They realised at film school they might not share the typical Belgian outlook on life/film and started working as a creative duo. They co-wrote the miniseries, SHAQ,​ for VRT, which Anthony co-directed. Their feature-length film, ​​POSTCARD, ​​won second prize at the Sam Spiegel FilmLab. Their TV-series, ​CLEMENCEAU, was selected for Torino Series Lab. In 2020, they were listed as two of the most promising filmmakers in Belgium and Netherlands by the NRC, Dutch national newspaper. Their work is reflective of their diverse background, as they use their work to bring a variety of cultures to light.

DA YIE has been co-produced by award-winning entertainment company Caviar whose ever growing circle of creators is rooted in film, tv-drama, branded content and digital (SOUND OF METAL, BLACK, THE RIDER, DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL). Caviar is also producing POSTCARD, Anthony and Chingiz’ debut feature film.

International sales and festival distribution are handled by Salaud Morisset (SKIN, LES MISÉRABLES), which also represents Yorgos Lanthimos’ and Jonathan Glazer’s latest works.

DA YIE can soon be seen at Amity Short Film Festival in Turkey, Whistler Film Festival in Canada, Stuttgarter Filmwinter in Germany, Minimalen Short Film Fest. Trondheim in Norway, Un poing c’est court in France and Courtoujours Lannion in India.