PERFORMANCE.
PERSISTENCE.
PURPOSE.
Immigrating from Cameroon, a country where Queerness is criminalized, a young man finds his purpose through performance, and eventually becomes the very first winner of now-iconic reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race. BEING BEBE is a new documentary telling this story.
Marshall Ngwa (a.k.a. BeBe Zahara Benet) came to the United States in pursuit of education, and discovered his own tremendous gifts in the art form of drag. The film parallels Marshall’s fight to maintain the trajectory of his career alongside a deep connection with his traditional African roots and family.
Over 15 years, BEING BEBE intimately follows Marshall’s remarkable journey from the earliest days of his amateur drag performance career in Minneapolis to his emergence as one of the leading artists in the movement to celebrate and advance Black Queer Excellence.
NEW YORK TIMES CRITIC'S PICK: “In a sea of glossy celebrity bio-docs, “Being BeBe” is a breath of fresh air."
- Natalia Winkelman (NY Times)
“Full of heart, soul and wit...a joy-filled, life-affirming must-watch.”
- Joey Keough (Vague Visages)
"Heartfelt and fun...An uproarious, joyous portrait."
- Jay Bernard (BFI Flare)
"Being BeBe is an abundant intersection of cultural issues....the drag documentary that the modern world needs to see."
- Jasmine Valentine, Movie Marker (UK)
"Remarkably woven together...puts queer struggle into a global perspective."
- B.L. Panther (The Spool)
"An immigrant success story...entertaining and poignant...like the drag version of Rocky!"
- Ellen Miller & Scott Duff (Out Chicago WCPT)
"A very Minnesota story...touching in a surprisingly Norman Rockwell and the-value-of-family sort of way...This film shows a good, real, and little-seen side of our beloved hometown."
- Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl (Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine)
"As triumphant and entertaining as the legend herself."
- Newfest
"Watching BeBe create his craft as an artist is nothing less than inspiring...a truly refreshingly honest & entertaining up close and personal profile."
- Roger Walker-Dack (Queer Guru)
"Bold storytelling...It is a gift for an audience, and particularly for fans, to be able to travel on the journey with Marshall for that many years."
- Billie Melissa (Cinematic Faves)
"A document of what can happen in America when imagination and diversity are embraced...a full portrait...lovingly explored."
- Steve Desroches (Provincetown Magazine)
"A wonderful, captivating portrait of an artist who has overcome a lot in her life."
- Mike Dougherty (Director of Festival Programming, Outfest LA; for The Queer Review)
"Relatable and triumphant."
- Stacey Yvonne (Black Girl Nerds)
"I loved it…a modern Cameroonian-American fairy tale."
- Helene Faussart (Singer/composer, Les Nubians)