Malia Obama Walked The Sundance Red Carpet In Honor of Her Directorial Debut

Malia Ann Obama attends the "The Heart" Premiere at the Short Film Program 1 during the 2024 Sundance Film Festival — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Former first daughter Malia Obama walked her very first red carpet in honor and in celebration of her directorial debut.

On Jan. 18, 2024, the 25-year-old daughter of former President Barack Obama attended the 2024 Sundance Film Festival premiere of her first movie The Heart, which she both wrote and directed.

In a video posted by Sundance about the short film, Obama described the project as “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.”

“The film is about lost objects, and lonely people, forgiveness and regret," she added. "But I also think it works hard to uncover where tenderness and closeness can exist in these things."

The budding cinematographer looked effortlessly chic while walking the Sundance Red Carpet in a loose button-down shirt underneath a gray wool gray coat.

She paired the look with a pair of jeans, chunky platform boots and a gray scarf.

While the Sundance Film Festival premiere of Obama's short film marks her red carpet debut, she is hardly a stranger to the entertainment industry. In 2022, actor and producer Donald Glover hired Obama as a writer for his Prime show Swarm.

“She’s just, like, an amazingly talented person,” Glover said of the new director, as reported by The Hill. Glover also said Obama was "really focused."

In the same Sundance video about The Heart, Obama said that "the folks who came together to make this film have my heart, pun intended."

"I'm incredibly grateful to them for giving this story life," she added. "And we are grateful to Sundance for giving us the opportunity to share it with you all."

Danielle Campoamor is Marie Claire's weekend editor covering all things news, celebrity, politics, culture, live events, and more. In addition, she is an award-winning freelance writer and former NBC journalist with over a decade of digital media experience covering mental health, reproductive justice, abortion access, maternal mortality, gun violence, climate change, politics, celebrity news, culture, online trends, wellness, gender-based violence and other feminist issues. You can find her work in The New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, New York Magazine, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, TODAY, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Glamour, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, Prism, Newsweek, Slate, HuffPost and more. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and their two feral sons. When she is not writing, editing or doom scrolling she enjoys reading, cooking, debating current events and politics, traveling to Seattle to see her dear friends and losing Pokémon battles against her ruthless offspring. You can find her on X, Instagram, Threads, Facebook and all the places.