Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Getty
Malia Obama might be the daughter of a former world leader, but she’s keeping things subtle with her directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival. For one thing, she’s dropped the “Obama” from her name to go by “Malia Ann.” Also, if you were expecting some kind of political thriller, or a Lady Bird-like coming-of-age piece about a young woman growing up in a very big, white house, think again.
Obama’s 18-minute narrative short film, titled “The Heart,” is a quiet story about a man named Joshua (Tunde Adebimpe) who lives with his mother (LaTonya Borsay). We open to a black screen and listen in on a strange, half-hearted argument. Joshua has failed to bring milk home along with the other groceries, and although he insists the store ran out, his mother doesn’t seem to believe him. Later that night, she dies from a heart attack while he’s upstairs in the shower. As we come to find out, her will contains a strange request: She wants her heart preserved in a jar for posterity.
As far as Sundance short films go, “The Heart” is pretty par for the course—it’s subtle, it’s somewhat strange, and its visuals are warm and lo-fi. In her “Meet the Artist” video, Obama describes the production as “somewhat of a fable” and adds, “The film is about lost objects and lonely people, forgiveness and regret. But I also think it works hard to uncover where tenderness and closeness can exist in these things.”