Malia Obama Makes Her Sundance Debut

'The Heart' previously won best live action short at the Chicago International Film Festival
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 19, 2024 11:35 AM CST

Malia Obama has come a long way from her time protesting on the sidelines of the Sundance Film Festival. This year, she's screening a film there. The eldest daughter of former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama was on the red carpet Wednesday for the screening of short film The Heart, which she wrote and directed under the name Malia Ann (her first and middle names), per the Hollywood Reporter. In a video statement, the 25-year-old filmmaker who once interned for the now-jailed movie producer Harvey Weinstein calls the 18-minute film "an odd little story, somewhat of a fable, about a man grieving the death of his mother after she leaves him an unusual request in her will."

Produced by Ayesha Nadarajah and starring Tunde Adebimpe and Latonya Borsay, per ABC News, "the film is about lost objects and lonely people, forgiveness, and regret" and the "tenderness and closeness [that] can exist in these things," adds Obama, who landed a showing in the US short fiction films category at the prestigious festival. The Heart was previously shown at Telluride and the Chicago International Film Festival, where it won best live action short, per THR. Obama previously wrote for Prime Video's Swarm series, according to People. She's "an amazingly talented person," showrunner Donald Glover told Vanity Fair in 2022. "I feel like she's just somebody who's gonna have really good things coming soon." (More Malia Obama stories.)

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