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 Ecrans 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 2021, he wrote the screenplay for Hidden Dreams, directed by Ngang Romanus for which he received a nomination for Best Screenplay at the Bayelsa Film Festival. The film went on to be Cameroon's submission for Best International Film at the 94th Academy Awards.
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 Ecrans 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 , about the internally displaced people caused by the ongoing Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon. The film is available on Arte.

Filmography

As screenwriter

As a director

As an actor

  • 2016: Samba
  • 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: