Marshall Ngwa (a.k.a. renowned drag performer BeBe Zahara Benet) came to the United States from homophobic Cameroon with dreams of a better life, and became the first winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2009.

BEING BEBE follows Marshall’s remarkable immigrant journey from the earliest days of his amateur drag performance career in Minneapolis, circa 2006, to his emergence as one of the leading artists in the movement to celebrate and advance Queer Black Excellence during the 2020s.

With 15 years of intimate access to Marshall’s story, the film presents his unique love affair with performance alongside his unstoppable sense of persistence and purpose, offering an unprecedented portrait of an artist who chooses to live a creative life against all odds.

 

(currently in post-production)

SUPPORTED BY:

New York State Council for the Arts

Brooklyn Arts Council

Lucius & Eva Eastman Foundation

E. Rhodes & Leona B. Carpenter Foundation

650+ Kickstarter Backers

 

Directed by Emily Branham