‘Being BeBe’ Is the Inspirational Drag Documentary We Need Right Now
"BeBe’s life is an inspiration to many queer youth, especially those in Africa. It is a message of hope, telling us to not only dream, but to work for it. It is a lesson on how to get back on your feet and come back stronger every time."
Press
- Event News
- Press
Marshall Ngwa on Being Bebe
AfroQueer host Selly Thiam sits down with BeBe to explore his childhood in Cameroon, becoming the first RuPaul’s Drag Race champion, and the film BEING BEBE.
AfroQueer Podcast
NYT Critics Pick Review: Being BeBe
"...a breath of fresh air."
New York Times
Being BeBe review
"Being BeBe is full of heart, soul and wit -- much like the subject herself -- and provides a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain...a joy-filled, life-affirming must-watch."
Vague Visages
Being Bebe featured on 99.5FM New York City
Malika Lee Whitney invites Director Emily Branham to her arts show to discuss "effervescent," "big and bubbly" new film, Being BeBe.
WBAI Pacifica Radio
BEING BEBE video interviews at Tallgrass & Oxford Film Festivals
Gadi Elkon catches up with director Emily Branham in Wichita ahead of BEING BEBE's Closing Night Gala screening at Tallgrass Film Festival.
Selig Film Reviews
Being BeBe Review: The Queen of Cameroon
"A telling human rights portrait about the ongoing fight for LGBTQ rights worldwide...Benet’s celebration of Blackness and Africanness were always part of her drag—they’re just especially compelling with a feature doc treatment."
POV: Canada's Documentary Magazine
Art Hounds recommend shows that celebrate glamorous, artistic lives
"Independent film critic Nick Kochi recommends the final film of the event, Being BeBe...It’s an intimate, contemplative film that is also a really powerful testament to art and the value of art and how art can express oneself,” Kouhi said.
MPRnews
Tallgrass Film Festival Preview w/Being BeBe’s Director
Hosts chat with Being BeBe's Director, Emily Branham, fellow Tallgrass filmmaker Mye Hoang, and Tallgrass Film Festival Executive Director Melanie Addington.
Ceiling Breakers Podcast
‘Being BeBe’: Film Review
"...the movie’s sweetest moments are Marshall’s interactions with his family, including three sisters and a younger brother. Their warmth and solidarity provide a contrast to talk of the ongoing taboo of homosexuality in many African cultures."
The Hollywood Reporter
‘Among the Believers’: Why sitting on the fence is no longer an option
"I am afraid it is no longer enough to sit on the fence; the population has to take a stand against religious fundamentalism. And in this those who don't participate will be default become allies...even if they don't agree with them."
The Nation
11 New Movies That Show Female Filmmakers Are Forces To Be Reckoned With
"For a film centered on an unapologetically extremist organization and its leader, Among the Believers maintains an impressively if sometimes frustratingly even keel, leaving the damning material to speak for itself."
BuzzFeed
Portrait of Radical Islam in Pakistan Veers from Balance to Condemnation
"What I like about Among the Believers, a portrait of radical Islam in Pakistan, is how the first two-thirds of the movie strives to remain as balanced as possible."
The Guardian (UK)
Tribeca Film Festival: Among the Believers review
"...this multi-tentacled story using a daunting variety of footage, news footage and archival film mixed with interviews...shows the end-result of single-minded black-and-white thinking, especially when it comes to children. "
RogerEbert.com
Tribeca Film Festival: 12 Must-See Premieres
"Though it’s a documentary, Among the Believers might also qualify as Tribeca’s scariest film this year."
Entertainment Weekly
23 Movies to See at the Tribeca Film Festival
"With uncommon access, this documentary...reveals how those preaching zealotry, intolerance, and repression can insinuate themselves into desperately poor, hungry communities."
New York Magazine — Vulture
The 20 Best Movies at the Tribeca Film Festival
"The battles make the headlines, but the war for the future of Pakistan is being fought far beyond the reach of the public eye."
Time Out New York
Q&A with Jonathan Goodman Levitt
An hour-long, unedited interview of Jonathan Goodman Levitt about Follow the Leader by C-Span's founder Brian Lamb.
C-SPAN
A Political Documentary “Reality Check” with “Follow the Leader”
POV spoke with Levitt "to [grasp] why he feels so strongly about engaging audiences in a political dialogue." He shared he's "come to understand why people on the Right feel disenfranchised by public media, and feel it's left wing. My own politics aside I made enemies...because the film doesn't take a position against its characters."
PBS's Point-of-View (POV) Blog
Unconventional: Behind the Scenes, Nick Troiano
“Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the 2012 Republican and Democratic National Conventions...” The Washington Post talks with Nick Troiano, participant in the new film Follow the Leader that's premiering in Charlotte during the DNC Convention.
The Washington Post
Unconventional: Behind the Scenes, Jonathan Goodman Levitt
“Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the 2012 Republican and Democratic National Conventions...” The Washington Post talks with Jonathan Goodman Levitt, the filmmaker behind the new film Follow the Leader that's premiering in Charlotte during the DNC Convention.
The Washington Post
Fiscal Conservatism Fuels Debt-Concerned Youth
"Troiano was recently featured in a film documentary called Follow the Leader, which tells the story of three conservative teenagers going through high school in America after 9/11, and is premiering at the RNC."
Youth Radio
Documentary Shows Teenage Politicians Growing Up Post 9/11
"I started to question what I was doing, what my motives were. They were not public service, but to advance my own career and my own goals. I came to the conclusion that I can't do this for the rest of my life," said D.J. Beauregard (one of three main participants in Follow the Leader)
Huffington Post
Three Teens’ Quests for Political Power
"...all of a sudden you're pressured -- the power -- you become sort of this strange entity that is being pulled by so many people, and you sort of lose who you wanted to be in the first place..." Juliet Huddy, Fox News
Fox News LIVE
Project of the Day: Politics Isn’t Just Child’s Play
"...I started making a film about what I didn't understand. But rather than defining a generation's political opinion, I focused on three ambitious teens who had adopted the 'war on terror' mentality wholeheartedly..."
IndieWire
Playing it for Real: Are we exploiting vulnerable people when we watch their lives unravel on TV?
"Jonathan Goodman Levitt argues that the 'fly-on-the-wall' approach is far more effective in transmitting a message than 'talking heads' - in the same way that mental health education is known to work best when delivered by someone with first-hand experience."
Mental Health Today
Digital Choices: BBC Storyville — Sunny Intervals and Showers
"...in this unusual, often bold, insight into a life dominated by manic depression [Bipolar Disorder]...the filmmakers' decision to take a non-judgmental approach allows us to take our own — possibly surprising — conclusions."
The Daily Telegraph
Last Night’s TV: Till the Dark Depths Do Us Part
"Life is life, life is filmed and life is what goes into the film," said Allan, the subject of Sunny Intervals and Showers. If you believe it's that simple then you're crazy, but..."
The Independent
Storyville: Sunny Intervals and Showers
"Jonathan Goodman Levitt's gentle film follows a year in the life of Dr. Allan Levi, a university professor who, when filming started, had just been suspended from work because of his manic depression...Leavened by humour, it is still a sobering demonstration of the everyday exasperations of living with mental illness."
The Times
Is the Label Worse Than the Illness?
"The intimate documentary, to be broadcast on BBC tonight, starts by showing an engaging, high-spirited man and his loyal wife struggling with his suddenly jobless state and diagnosis. Without giving away too much, the film illustrates how fragile even the most apparently sturdy relationships can be when someone is diagnosed with a mental illness. With the rate of diagnosis increasing, this raises important issues."
The Daily Telegraph
Digital Pick of the Day: Sunny Intervals and Showers
"Living with manic depression is one of the hardest thing to do, both for the person suffering from the illness and for their families. This important documentary is...almost too harrowing to watch and it is to the programme's credit that it doesn't shy away from tackling just how difficult..."