A star looking to rebrand may find assistance from the Sundance Film Festival. The snowy event is the ideal venue to unveil a new direction, whether it be for youth movie stars trying to transition into hot adult parts or Marvel superheroes seeking an indie turn.
Many people I encountered at Sundance this year were unaware that this year’s major rebranding had taken place at all, thanks to its outstanding execution. If they had, we could have seen a mob situation at one of the usually low-key short film showcases, where an 18-minute film titled “The Heart” made by an up-and-coming director identified as Malia Ann—though she is better known as the former president’s daughter, Malia Obama—debuted.
Obama is no Hollywood rookie at 25 years old: She majored in visual and environmental studies at Harvard while studying filmmaking, and after interning at the Weinstein Company in 2017, she wrote for the Amazon series “Swarm.”Donald Glover, who oversaw “The Heart” as executive producer and has been guiding Obama’s budding career, cocreated the program: Glover told GQ last year, “The first thing we did was talk about the fact that she will only get to do this once.” You are Obama’s offspring. Thus, if you produce a subpar movie, it will follow you everywhere.
Filled with remorse, Joshua finds it difficult to move on, especially because he is now required under his mother’s will to carry a jar containing her preserved heart. However, he is given a second opportunity when he spots a stranger on the street who resembles his late mother. Joshua finally comes to the realization that perhaps he should be a little kinder to himself. He was determined to tell her the things he never had the chance to say while she was alive.
Why did Obama decide to pen and helm this peculiar yet endearingly low-key tale? Obama expressed her hope that viewing her short film “makes you feel a bit less lonely, or at least reminds you not to forget about the people who are” in a Sundance “meet the artist” video.
