Barack Obama’s daughter drops surname, this is Malia’s new name

Malia Obama made her red carpet debut as Malia Ann at the age of 25 at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier this month. She was there for the premiere of her The Heart.

Written By Arshdeep kaur
Updated23 Feb 2024, 01:57 PM IST
Malia Ann Obama attends the 'The Heart' Premiere at the Short Film Program 1 during the 2024 Sundance Film Festival at Prospector Square Theatre
Malia Ann Obama attends the ’The Heart’ Premiere at the Short Film Program 1 during the 2024 Sundance Film Festival at Prospector Square Theatre(Getty Images via AFP)

Malia Ann, a newcomer to Hollywood, is the older daughter of a very famous United States couple. She decided to ditch her last name in a bid to have a fresh start as a filmmaker and an individual.

Malia Ann is actually Malia Obama, the oldest daughter of former US president and first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama. For her latest film project, "The Heart", the young Obama dropped her last name in favour of her middle name. As her Hollywood career has taken off, Malia's pen name was revealed in the Sundance Institute's "Meet the Artist" spotlight video, which introduced her as Malia Ann-filmmaker.

The move is speculated to be an attempt to distance herself from the powerful Obama parents, who themselves have launched their careers in entertainment with their production house "Higher Ground Productions" in 2018.

Malia Obama's red carpet debut

Malia Obama made her red carpet debut as Malia Ann at the age of 25 at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier this month. She was there for the premiere of her "The Heart".

Interestingly, the Obama parents, new movie moguls themselves, did not attend the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Malia Obama's "The Heart"

Malia Ann has described her project as "an odd little story, somewhat of fable, about a man grieving the death of his mother after she leaves him an unusual request in her will," as she put it in her Sundance spotlight.

The film "The Heart", has been produced by Donald Glover's company Gilga, and is Malia's first time directing project.

Malia Obama's previous work

Although "The Heart" is Malia's first directing attempt, the Obama kid already has writing credits under her belt as a staff writer on Glover's Amazon Prime show "Swarm".

'An incredible writer and artist'

During her time in the film industry, Malia had garnered several compliments.

According to E News, Malia's colleague and Swarm's co-creator Janine Nabers has said that "she's a very professional person" in a January 2023 Vanity Fair interview. "She's an incredible writer and artist."

Donald Glover has also praised the Harvard grad, noting that her famous parents didn't play a role in how she was treated on set. "I feel like she's just somebody who's gonna have really good things coming soon," he told Vanity Fair in March 2022. "Her writing style is great. We can't be easy on her just because she's the [former] President's daughter."

Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.

MoreLess
First Published:23 Feb 2024, 01:57 PM IST
Business NewsNewsWorldBarack Obama’s daughter drops surname, this is Malia’s new name

Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!

  • Employment Type

    Most Active Stocks

    Tata Steel share price

    149.70
    07:18 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    1.05 (0.71%)

    Indian Oil Corporation share price

    145.00
    07:19 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    2.3 (1.61%)

    Tata Power share price

    445.20
    07:19 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    5.15 (1.17%)

    Bandhan Bank share price

    183.65
    07:10 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    1.4 (0.77%)
    More Active Stocks

    Market Snapshot

    • Top Gainers
    • Top Losers
    • 52 Week High

    Rainbow Childrens Medicare share price

    1,545.00
    06:59 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    -67.25 (-4.17%)

    ICICI Securities share price

    833.45
    06:59 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    -32.85 (-3.79%)

    Vijaya Diagnostic Centre share price

    966.70
    06:59 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    -30.35 (-3.04%)

    Narayana Hrudayalaya share price

    1,235.60
    06:59 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    -36.75 (-2.89%)
    More from Top Losers

    Brigade Enterprises share price

    1,244.80
    07:19 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    71.75 (6.12%)

    PCBL share price

    432.15
    07:17 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    21.35 (5.2%)

    Piramal Pharma share price

    281.85
    07:17 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    13.45 (5.01%)

    Jubilant Pharmova share price

    1,273.00
    06:59 PM | 1 NOV 2024
    60.65 (5%)
    More from Top Gainers

    Recommended For You

      More Recommendations

      Gold Prices

      • 24K
      • 22K
      Bangalore
      81,355.000.00
      Chennai
      81,361.000.00
      Delhi
      81,513.000.00
      Kolkata
      81,365.000.00

      Fuel Price

      • Petrol
      • Diesel
      Bangalore
      102.98/L0.00
      Chennai
      100.80/L0.00
      Kolkata
      104.95/L0.00
      New Delhi
      94.77/L0.00

      Popular in News

        HomeMarketsPremiumInstant LoanMint Shorts