Growing up in front of the eyes of the public isn’t something Malia Obama is not familiar with. Being the daughter of the former president of the United States, Barak Obama, she has spent her life under the limelight, and even today, the media is interested in her every move.
The 25-year-old just presented her directorial debut, The Heart, at the Sundance Film Festival. In the Sundance Institute’s “Meet the Artist” spotlight video, Malia Obama revealed she was going by the name Malia Ann, thus ditching her moniker.
Malia, who was born Malia Ann Obama on July 4, 1998, has her middle name honoring her paternal grandmother, who died from ovarian cancer at the age of 52 in 1995, and now, she has dropped her last name in favor of her middle name.
Speaking of the short film for which she served as both director and screenwriter, Malia said. “This is 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.” Further, in the YouTube clip of the short film, she wrote, “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.”
The Heat isn’t her first attempt into the profession. Previously, the Harvard grad worked in the writers’ room on Donald’s Amazon Prime show Swarm, co-writing the fifth episode, “Girl, Bye.”
“She’s a very professional person,” Swarm‘s co-creator Janine Nabers said Malia in a January 2023 Vanity Fair interview. “She’s an incredible writer and artist. She made significant contributions… She’s very, truly committed to her craft.”
Swarm‘s executive producer Stephen Glover also spoke of Malia. “We can’t be easy on her just because she’s the [former] President’s daughter,” he told Vanity Fair. “No, she is really down-to-earth and cool. So it’s not an issue at all.”
Malia Obama isn’t the first celebrity who made the decision to ditch their family name. Other celebs have done that before, including Nicolas Cage, who changed his last name from Coppola, and Angelina Jolie, who dropped her surname, Voight.
For her directorial debut, Malia looked cozy, with minimal makeup, her curly hair down with small braids scattered throughout.
Male nurse has absolutely no clue that he’s on camera as he decided to grant his old patient’s final ever wish
We all go through life knowing that someday we won’t be here forever. I’m not afraid of dying and see it as a natural part of life. But what does worry me is growing old and not being able to take care of myself. The idea of relying on a hospice nurse makes me a bit anxious.
The thought of needing help with everything, being unable to do simple things on my own, and forgetting my loved ones’ names scares me. It’s not the kind of life I’d want. This fear reminds me of Maria, a music teacher who was cared for by a hospice nurse in 2016.
One night, as I was leaving at the end of my shift, I said ‘Goodnight, Irene.’ Then I asked her if she knew the song ‘Goodnight, Irene,’ and I sang a little bit of it. She looked at me and smiled,” Berg said. “For someone who didn’t usually talk much with the nurses, that smile meant a lot, and I knew I had made a connection with her.”As Rosipajla’s health got worse, it was decided to move her from the hospital to hospice care. “The last time I took care of Irene, I wanted to do something kind for her and her family, so I brought my guitar,” said Berg, who had studied music in college. “I sang ‘Goodnight, Irene,’ and it was a really special moment. I was nervous about singing in front of someone, but when I started playing and singing, she was so focused, and her family was really touched.”
Michelle Naypauer, Irene Rosipajla’s daughter-in-law who saw her as a mother, was in the room and moved to tears. “Irene was a wonderful person who treated me like a daughter,” Naypauer said. “In the last few months, Irene was in and out of the hospital, and we got to know Annamarie well.”
“Before the song, Annamarie had already done some great things. Our middle son, Eric, got married in August, and Annamarie helped set up FaceTime so Mom could be at the reception bridal table. It was beautiful,” Naypauer shared.
Naypauer, who recorded Annamarie singing to Irene, wanted to capture the special moment to share with the family. “There were so many tears, and it was just so beautiful,” she said. The song was a heartfelt farewell to Irene, who passed away a few weeks later at home, surrounded by her family.
Watch Joshua sing to Maria while she was in his carehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGFRHyt1sFQ
1. “Maria is dying. Then carer takes something out of his pocket and fulfills her last wish..” Newsner. Norhan Elhakeem. October 26, 2017
2. “Nurse sings to patient moving to hospice care in touching moment.” ABC News. Haley Yamada. March 2, 2020.
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