Malia Obama, the eldest daughter of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, made her red carpet debut at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The 25-year-old, whose short film The Heart was one of many featured at the festival, stepped out for the film's premiere at Prospector Square Theatre in Park City, Utah, Thursday.
Malia directed and wrote the screenplay for The Heart; she's listed only by her first and middle names — Malia Ann. The 18-minute short stars singer Tunde Adebimpe of the band TV on the Radio and actress LaTonya Borsay. It was produced by Ayesha Nadarajah.
"[The Heart] is 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," Malia explained in a Sundance Institute video introducing the short. "The film is about lost objects and lonely people and forgiveness and regret but I also think it works hard to uncover where tenderness and closeness can exist in these things."
She added that she was "incredibly grateful" to share the short film with the world.
After graduating from Harvard University in 2021, Malia interned for the series Girls, worked as a production assistant on the TV series Extant, starring Halle Berry, and wrote for Donald Glover's horror series Swarm.