DALY CITY | NICK HARTANTO

Salute Your Shorts Official Selection 2025 - white (1).png

Grand Jury Award

Nick Hartanto, whose previous film earned a Special Jury Mention at Tribeca, is regarded as the first Indonesian-American filmmaker to have an Academy Award®-qualifying short.

Daly City is an autobiographical story about an Indonesian boy and his mother who bring Chinese takeout to a church potluck and pretend itʼs a traditional family dish. The boy's quiet observations lead him to question his parents' behavior as they strive to find a sense of belonging in a new country.

Shot in locations where the story occurred, and proudly starring an Indonesian cast, the film is a tender and complex portrait of the American Dream and a rare look at the Indonesian diaspora.

Festivals & Awards

Asian American International Film Festival
Indonesian Film Festival New York
Hawai’i International Film Festival Nominated for Oscar-qualifying Best Short Award
Los Angeles Indonesian Film Festival
Woodstock Film Festival Nominated for Oscar-qualifying Best Short Narrative Award
Devour! Food Fest
Lake County Film Festival
Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival Selected for Award Nominated Shorts Program
San Diego Asian Film Festival
Revolution Me Film Festival Winner of Best Short & Best Actor (Jett Automo)
Indie Memphis
TIDE Film Festival
Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (Indonesia)
Cinema at Sea Okinawa International Film Festival (Japan) Winner of Best Short Film Award
Indonesian Film Festival Australia Short Film Competition (Australia) Selected as Grand Winner
DisOrient
Nitehawk Shorts Festival Audience Award Winner
Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival
Portland Panorama
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
CAAMFest
Diaspora Film Festival (Korea)
Asian American Showcase
HAAPIFEST Winner of the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short Film
Nevada City Film Festival
Non Films “DarkRoom” Screening & Salon
Salute Your Shorts Film Festival Winner of Special Jury Award for Excellence in Directing (Oscar-qualifying) & Best Cinematography (Guido Raimondo)
Port Townsend Film Festival Jury Commendation for Intimate Portrayal of Immigrant Life
Brava! For Women in the Arts with “New Wave” Documentary
Twin Cities Film Fest Finalist for Best Short Film Award
Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest
Revolution Me Front & Center Panel
LAIFF Los Angeles: Featuring 3 Oscar Qualified Indonesian Films
IFF New York: Featuring 3 Oscar Qualified Indonesian Films
Vancouver Asian Film Festival Finalist for Best Short Film Award
Night of Shorts
Pittsburgh Shorts & Script Competition Audience Award Winner for Best Narrative Short Film
Nick Hartanto was awarded the 2025 Daly City Mayor's Cultural Roots and Pride Award

Press & Reviews

Ronny Chieng

(The Daily Show, Crazy Rich Asians, Interior Chinatown)

Mark Bittman

(New York Times food journalist, James Beard Award Winner)

LISTEN: Writer/Director Nick Hartanto on Food with Mark Bittman Podcast:

Screenshot 2025-11-22 at 10.56.30 AM.png

P L A Y

WATCH: The Online Premiere of DALY CITY on Short of the Week

P L A Y

"WONDERFUL and EMOTIONAL."

- Justin Chon,

Blue Bayou, Chief of War, Pachinko

"At a time when conversations about the AMERICAN DREAM and IMMIGRATION feel especially charged, ‘Daly City’ pauses to ask a quieter question: what shapes our sense of belonging, and what do we give up on the way to finding it?"

- Short of the Week

“Manages to tell the story we have all seen covered many times over the years, but does so in a truly FRESH and AUTHENTIC way […] With strong performances from every family member, a well-considered script and cinematic choices that perfectly match the story being told, this film impressed us with all of its HONESTY and HUMANITY."

- Álvar Carretero & Paul Sloop, SYSFF Jury

"An ACCOMPLISHED, TOUCHING and WITTY portrait of an immigrant family and their quest after an American Dream. A subtle commentary on how they and also we try to fit into order to be accepted […] with HUMOUR and LAUGHTER for the audience."

- Brillante Mendoza & Kristina Aschenbrennerova,

Cinema at Sea Jury

Director's Statement

I have always been drawn to making films that tell deeply personal stories based on my own lived experience. These truths, I believe, are what connect audiences to my stories and characters. It's also what has led to the success of my films: The Dishwasher, which I co-directed, premiered at Tribeca 2019 and was inspired by my experience working as a line cook in the kitchen of a New York fine dining restaurant.

My latest project, Daly City, is an autobiographical story that draws from my experiences growing up as an Indonesian immigrant in the Bay Area. There is a sense of urgency for me to tell this story now. We are living in a moment of self-examination for the AANHPI community, and in recent years there has been much discourse about the idea of the "model minority myth,” a seemingly positive but damaging stereotype that exotifies Asian immigrants and attempts to define our sense of worth.

While this issue has historically been addressed in documentaries, it's rarely explored in fiction. In telling this story as a narrative film, I want the viewer to draw their own conclusions about the cost of assimilation, as told through the perspective of a young Indonesian-American boy straddling both cultures. For me, this story is about inspiring a new generation of immigrants so that we can both understand our parents' sacrifices in becoming the model minority and also transcend them.

Nick Hartanto

Director | Cinematographer

Nick Hartanto is an Indonesian-American filmmaker based in New York. His short film, “The Dishwasher,” which he co-directed, was awarded a Special Jury Mention at Tribeca 2019 and was then acquired by HBO Max. His next film, “Atrophy,” a genre bending story about his mother’s fight to recover from a stroke, premiered at Fantasia 2021 and won Best Performance at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. Also a skilled Cinematographer, he shot the Adult Swim series “Hot Package.“ His commercial clients include Condé Nast Traveler, Netflix, FiveThirtyEight and Wieden+Kennedy. He was recently a guest speaker at the Asian American Arts Alliance Film & Media Town Hall and is touring festivals with his new film, "Daly City,” which won an Academy Award-Qualification at Salute Your Shorts Film Festival making him the first Indonesian-American filmmaker to have an Oscar qualifying short.