Nike Ad de Malia Obama is part of a more important problem, says the filmmaker

This test also filed is based on a conversation transcribed with the 27 -year -old filmmaker Natalie Jasmine Harris. The following has been modified for duration and clarity. The representatives of Malia Obama, Nike, the advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy and the production company Iconoclast did not respond to requests for comments from Business Insider.

Earlier this month, at Denver Airport on the way back to a realiative mentoring program With the basketball star A’ja Wilson appeared on my flow.

At first, I was confused, asking me if it was real. He presented two people playing Pat-Ana in a way that echoes a first scene from my 14-minute short film “Grace”, which is a Gothic short film of South Black on a girl who is baptized and questioning his feelings for his best friend.

I had met Malia in Sundance in 2024, when “Grace” and her short film, “The Heart”, were both in competition. We saw ourselves in the director of the director and a few other events.

At the start, I was disappointed and injured – not only for myself, but for my entire team. I sent advertising to friends who had the same reaction as me. One has set up a comparison of shooting photos.

Since the publication of the online problem, there have been many people who do not understand my disappointment. They are like, “you have not invented Pat-a-Sake.” And it’s very true. But this is not a question of the game, these are the cinematographic tools used to represent it.

My director of photography, Tehillah de Castro, noted many similarities from a technical point of view, from the angles of the camera to the photos with the framework composition and the color palette.

Over time, I passed this initial shock to a deeper frustration around how instances like this are very common – and I need to change.

He talks about a wider number of brands that do not support independent artists and opt for people who already have name recognition, who does not develop innovative films or original narration. If they wanted these photos similar to my photos, why not get involved to direct?

The route that worked for the Spike Lees and Steven Spielbergs in the world feel less viable today. If we are continuously neglected, how will the next generation of filmmakers exist?

Despite early success, being a young director was a fight

I knew I wanted to be a director from an early age.

I started to make documentaries in high school on social justice during the Black Lives Matter movement. Many of my work centers are joy in the experiences of passing to adulthood, black women and queer stories – things that are personal to me.

Despite the Nyu diploma in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, I have been very successful so far. My thesis film, “Pure”, ended up being bought by HBO shortly after obtaining my diploma, and he won the DGA Student Film Award. I also won a competition to direct an advertisement for Hyundai and I advertised to Verizon.

In addition to going to Sundance in 2024, “Grace” is also a choice of Vimeo staff and will be under criterion in June.

However, being a young director was difficult. The festivals are great, but they don’t pay the bills. I have provided other full -time and independent jobs.

Right now, I’m working on my first feature, which I have spent the past few years writing and launching.

But I have often encountered roadblocks with production companies and financiers saying, as words, that no one wants to be the first person to bet on me – associated with the fact that I am young and that I have no established name.

I would like there to be recognition

I have not heard of Malia Obama or Nike since I spoke, but I would like there to be recognition.

I was initially hesitating to express themselves, since this implies the daughter of a former president and a beloved brand like Nike. Criticizing something involving WNBA was also difficult because it means a lot for me personally, and it already gets such a lack of projector.

But I poured too much in my work to sit down and look.

Sometimes it may seem that cinema is something that is supposed to be a hobby for the rich rather than something that can be a career.

But I don’t want to give up. I have a beautiful community of friends, family and colleagues fighting the same fight, and there is hope in there. I still have a lot of stories I want to tell. And I also want to be a name one day.