








Fill out this form for Non-Profit, Community Group, For-Profit and Corporate Screenings
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 30+ Film Festivals on 5 continents | JURY AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY - Minneapolis Sound Unseen Film & Music Festival | WARNERMEDIA AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY - Provincetown International Film Festival
Performing Arts • Media Studies • African Diaspora • LGBTQ+ & Gender Studies • Immigration & Migration Studies • Music Business • Family Acceptance • IntersectionalityDate of Completion: 2021 | Run Time: 93 & 56 minutes | Language: English & French with English subtitles | Captions: Yes | Includes: Transcript | Director(s): Emily Branham | Producer(s): Emily Branham, Marc Smolowitz & Jonathan Goodman Levitt | Unavailable to Africa and Sweden
BEING BEBE is the story of Marshall Ngwa, a Cameroonian artist whose identity hinges on the complicated success of his drag persona, BeBe Zahara Benet. Grounded by Marshall’s own present-day narration, the film features 15 years of vérité, interviews, and performances. Viewers follow Marshall’s remarkable immigrant journey from the earliest days of his amateur drag performance career in Minneapolis, circa 2006, to becoming the first winner of the now-iconic reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2009. As Marshall fights to maintain the trajectory of his career despite a series of difficult setbacks, the film reveals what it means to celebrate and advance Queer Black Excellence during the 2020s. Alongside Marshall's story, viewers are introduced to LGBTQ+ youth and activists in Cameroon, where Queer identity is criminalized.
The New York Times | Natalia Winkelman
"In the perspicacious documentary Being BeBe,’ the director Emily Branham seems to have taken a page from Janet Malcolm. Within her profile of Marshall Ngwa, who performs drag as BeBe Zahara Benet, Branham tucks lucid insights about the codes, ethics and art of cinematic biography.”
POV Magazine | Pat Mullen
“Being BeBe illustrates how the mainstream success for queer artists remains a hard won battle and is doubly difficult for artists of colour ... The film is also a telling human rights portrait about the ongoing fight for LGBTQ rights worldwide.”
Documentary.org (International Documentary Association) | Lauren Wissot
"Emily Branham’s Being BeBe is a revealing walk (uh, sashay) down memory lane with the titular BeBe Zahara Benet."
Movie Marker (UK) | Jasmine Valentine
"🌟🌟🌟🌟 Being BeBe is an abundant intersection of cultural issues....the drag documentary that the modern world needs to see."
OutRight Action International | Micheal Ighodaro
“Moving, captivating, inspiring – It’s everything…Millions of people across the globe – especially young black queer people – will be very moved and inspired.”
Hollywood Reporter | David Rooney
"Bottom line: Shantay, you stay."
Minneapolis Star Tribune | Neal Justin and Chris Hewitt
"...the former Gay 90's standout is a natural camera subject, so it's zippy fun to hang in the Benet world."
BFI Flare | Jay Bernard
"Heartfelt and fun...An uproarious, joyous portrait."
Queer Guru | Roger Walker-Dack
“Watching BeBe create his craft as an artist is nothing less than inspiring...a truly refreshingly honest & entertaining up close and personal profile.”
Provincetown Magazine | Steve Desroches
“Lovingly explored....a document of what can happen in America when imagination and diversity are embraced.”
The Spool | B.L. Panther
“Remarkably woven together…puts queer struggle into a global perspective.”
Out Chicago WCPT | Ellen Miller & Scott Duff
“An immigrant success story…entertaining & poignant…the drag version of Rocky!”
MPR Art Hounds | Nick Kouhi
“An intimate, contemplative film that is also a really powerful testament to art and the value of art and how art can express oneself.”
Black Girl Nerds | Stacey Yvonne
“Relatable and triumphant.”
Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine | Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl
“A very Minnesota story full of local stars…This film shows a good, real, and little-seen side of our beloved hometown.”
Alliance of Women Journalists | Valerie Kalfrin
"[Being BeBe is...] a warm profile of an effervescent personality who radiates self-acceptance and encourages others to do the same."
Reel News Daily | Elizabeth Whittemore
"Being BeBe is a heartfelt and honest look at the artist pushing boundaries without pause."
Vague Visages | Joey Keough
“Branham is given unprecedented access into Marshall/Bebe’s world. Despite the challenges of filming during the COVID-19 pandemic, she retains a direct connection to her subject, sensitively teasing everything out even as viewers learn that “BeBe hates being vulnerable.”
DrewRosome.com | Drew Rowsome
"The rags to riches to rags saga of an ambitious drag queen is fascinating, fierce and fabulous. And Marshall/Bebe is an engaging and lovable subject who never fails to entertain or have a quip.”
In The Seats | Paolo Kagaoan
"There’s an interesting bit of editing in Emily Branham’s Being Bebe."
The Washington Blade | John Paul King
“An up-close look at a performer whose emotional journey raises timely concerns at the intersection of LGBTQ, BIPOC, and immigrant lives today.”
RealityYeo.com | Deb Yeo
“It’s easy to get swept up in the glamorous artifice of drag and forget that it’s a hard, and not always lucrative, way to make a living. The documentary “Being BeBe,” which highlights 15 years in the life of drag artist BeBe Zahara Benet, is clear-eyed about this reality.”
Women and Hollywood | Cassandra Nicholson
NewNowNext.com | Christopher Rudoplh
Xtra* | Sarah Taher
Edina Sun Current | Caitlin Anderson
What Not to Doc | Basil Tsiokos
Girl Talk HQ | Asha Dahya
WORLD PREMIERE
Tribeca Film Festival
WINNER
Jury Award for Best Documentary | Sound Unseen Film & Music Festival (Minneapolis)
WarnerMedia Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature | Provincetown International Film Festival
DOCUMENTARY CENTERPIECE
Outfest Los Angeles
Seattle Queer Film Festival
OPENING NIGHT
Toronto Human Rights Film Festival
CLOSING NIGHT
Provincetown International Film Festival
Tallgrass Film Festival (Wichita)
Sound Unseen (Minneapolis)
Twisted Arts Film Festival (Tulsa
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 30+ Film Festivals on 5 continents
Full list viewable here: https://beingbebemovie.com/festival-tour/