In the fascinating documentary “Being Be Be,” director Emily Branham seems to be taking a page from Janet Malcolm. In the profile of Marshall Ngwa, who plays the drug as BeBe Zahara Bennett, Bramham packs in clear insights into the code, ethics, and art of the film’s biography.
Bramham, who has been a close friend of Gwa for over 15 years, recollects the film. Opening in 2020 at Minneapolis’s home in Ngwa, Branham will watch clips captured a few years ago and react in real time to the scene. These segments mix with Ngwa’s life overview and drug superstar campaigns. Special attention is paid to his love for his family and the elegance of navigating their changing emotions about his embodying BeBe.
In the sea of shiny celebrity biodocuments, “Being Be Be” is a breath of fresh air. It observes the subject with a clear eye and positions Gwa’s victory in the context of artistic, financial and social struggles, including his exciting victory in the first season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race”. Don’t hesitate to do that.
Perhaps the most powerful is Bramham’s intermittent presence in the film. From time to time she asks Gwa from behind her grainy video camera and he talks to her. At other moments, she suspends her representative of Gwa to stage a broader investigation of homosexual aversion in Cameroon. With her functional debut, Bramham reveals her hand as a filmmaker, reminding us that “Being Be Be” is just a snapshot of Ngwa’s persona. The real thing is very rich.
Be Be
Unrated. Execution time: 1 hour 33 minutes.Rental or purchase Amazon, Apple TV And other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.
