Eystein Young Dingha Junior

Eystein Young Dingha Junior is a Cameroonian actor, screenwriter and director. He is known for directing The Planter's Plantation, winner of the Ecran d'Or at the 26th edition of the Écrans Noirs Festival in 2022. The film was also Cameroon's entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Birth Eystein Young Dingha was born 21 January 1992 in Njinikom in the Northwest region of Cameroon. His father is from Kom, in the department of Boyo, and his mother from Bali, in the department of Mezam. He did his primary education in the municipality of Njinikom and his secondary education at St. Paul's College in Bamenda. He completed his higher education at the University of Yaoundé II and then left Cameroon to settle in Nigeria.

Career Dingha began his career as an actor in 2012 and trained at Ruphina's House Academy in Bamenda. His early acting credits in Cameroonian productions include: Samson, Ensomni, The Beast, Cypher Comedy Series, The Kaffi, Ndonne, and My Best Day .

In 2022, he released The Planter's Plantation, a musical film that he wrote Produced, directed and starring Nigerian actor Nkem Owoh and the Cameroonian actress Loveline Nimo in the lead roles. In 2022, the film won the Ecran d'Or, the highest distinction at the Écrans Noirs Festival, an annual festival taking place in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. He is the first Cameroonian director to win the award in the 26 years of the festival's existence. In October of that year, the film was selected as the country's submission for the Oscar for Best International Film.

In 2022, Dingha directed the documentary Clando, the exile bus (Clando, le bus de l'exil), about the internally displaced people caused by the ongoing Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon. The film is available on Arte.

Filmography

As screenwriter

2021: Hidden Dreams 2022: The Planter's Plantation

As a director

2019: Woman Perfect 2019: Consort 2020: If Only 2022: The Planter's Plantation 2022: Clando, the exile bus

As an actor

2016: Samba (TV Series) 2018: If I Am the President 2020: Saving Mbango 2020: Full Moon 2020: The Journey of the S 2022: Behind Gates

Awards For The Planter's Plantation:

2022: Écran d'Or at the Écrans Noirs Festival . 2023: Ecobank Ousmane Sembene Special Prize and Burkina International Plan for Girls' Equality Special Award for Combativeness and Innovation for Girls at FESPACO 2023. 2023: Best International Film, Uganda Film Festival. 2023: Yarha D'Or at the Yarha Film Festival. 2023: Best Film at the LFC Awards. 2023: Balafon d'Or for best film, best director, best poster, best screenplay, best costume and Golden Awards at the Balafons a of Douala. 2024: Best fiction film at the Vues d'Afrique Festival.