BVDirector Anthony Nti (30), who caused a furore in ‘The smartest person in the world’ at the end of last year, has been included by the prestigious business magazine Forbes in their ’30 under 30′ list: the thirty most influential people under the age of 30 in the world. category Entertainment. “Mom, we made it to the list just before I turn 30,” he commented on his Instagram page.
Nti was born in Ghana and moved to Belgium when he was ten. He studied at the RITCS film school. His graduation project ‘Boi’ won the prize for ‘Best Debut’ at the short film festival in Leuven. Filmed in his native Ghana, ‘Da Yie’ made it to the Oscars shortlist in the Best Short Film category. He ultimately did not receive a nomination, but did win important prizes at the Ghent Film Festival, the Ensors and the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, one of the most important short film festivals in the world. He directed the series ‘Hoodie’ for Ketnet, and last year his miniseries ‘De Shaq’ was broadcast on Eén, with Bart Hollanders and Soe Nsuki in the lead roles. At the end of last year, Nti played in ‘The smartest person in the world’, for which he says he was not preparing at all. He turned out to be one of the funniest candidates and ultimately didn’t win a single episode, but he did survive five finals and made it to the big final weeks.
“It does not surprise me that Anthony ended up on this list”, says Erik Van Looy (60), who asked Nti for ‘The smartest man’ and in this way introduced him to the Flemish public. “He’s a fantastic guy, young, smart, wise, witty and warm. We had already tested him for the quiz a few years ago, when he was still at the RITSC, but then it was still too early. We actually wanted to wait for him to finish his first feature film, but last year we were like, ‘Fuck, we’re just asking him now.’ He also made a promo video for ‘De Slimste Mens’ and that was a lot of fun working together.”
“Anthony is a great talent, and I’m glad they see that abroad too,” Erik continues. “He has the potential to follow in the footsteps of Adil and Bilal. The fact that he is now on the Forbes list will certainly help him to build a great career. Especially in the film world that is becoming increasingly international. They’ll be watching him more now, and it won’t hurt him.”
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Belgian short film ‘Da Yie’ shortlisted for Oscars
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