Irasj Asanti is an award-winning director. He studied acting at the Nordic Black Theatre School in Oslo, has acted in several Norwegian films, and now works as a director, writer, and actor. Asanti has written and directed several short films that have been screened at festivals and TV worldwide. His feature Høvdinger (2015) played in theaters, whereas his previous short film Break Me won an audience award at the Oslo/Fusion International Film Festival in 2019. At this year's festival, his new short Sand plays in competition. Asanti now works on a new short titled Alina to be filmed in August 2021, and develops an action thriller feature, both with support from the National Film Institute. Høvdinger ble nominert til Kanonprisen og vist på kino, mens hans forrige kortfilm Break me vant Blikks publikumspris under filmfestivalen Oslo/Fusion i 2019 og er også med i den kulturelle skolesekken 2021. På årets festival konkurrerer han om Gullstolen med sin nye kortfilm Sand. For tiden jobber han med kortfilmen Alina som filmes i august 2021, og med en action/thriller spillefilm i utvikling, begge støttet av NFI.