TikTok Sensation Khaby Lame to Premiere Directorial Debut at Taormina Film Festival (Exclusive)

Khaby Lame — whose renowned “life hack” videos have seen him become TikTok’s most followed creator — is moving from the (very) small screen to the big screen, The News84Media can reveal.

The Senegalese-born Italian social media personality, who currently has 156.1 million TikTok followers, is set to world premiere his directorial short film debut at the 2023 Taormina Film Festival.

Bella Thorne, who is also introducing her short film Paint Her Red at this year’s festival, invited Lame in her capacity as curator of the event’s “influential shorts” gala evening, alongside festival co-artistic director Barrett Wissman. Lame is currently creating, producing and directing his short film, of which the details are being kept under wraps.

Lame rose to popularity with his videos mocking complicated supposed life hacks, in which he performs the same task in a simple way, without saying anything, followed by a trademark hand gesture. In April 2021, he surpassed Gianluca Vacchi as the most-followed Italian on TikTok, and he subsequently became the second most-followed personality on the platform overall. In September 2021, he attended the Venice Film Festival as a special guest for the first screening of the French film Lost Illusions by Xavier Giannoli. In January 2022, Lame signed a multi-year partnership with Hugo Boss and was featured in the #BeYourOwnBoss campaign.

On June 22, 2022, Lame became TikTok’s most-followed creator, surpassing Charli D’Amelio, with 142.1 million followers. Lame was appointed as a juror on the television show Italy’s Got Talent this year.

“Extremely creative and beyond current are Khaby’s strengths, I am blessed he is adding his voice to the exceptional evening I am putting together,” said Thorne.

Added Wissman: “We are very thrilled to bring Khaby to Taormina for the festival. It is imperative for us to always be developing younger, fresh audiences through new media. Khaby helps us to bring diverse, young, international and Italian fans to our historic festival.”

Earlier this month, the Taormina Film Festival unveiled its upcoming highlights for 2023, including Johnny Depp’s Jeanne du Barryand Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Held in the picturesque town of Taormina, it attracts international filmmakers, actors, and film lovers from all over the world, with screenings taking place in the Ancient Theater of Taormina. The festival has hosted the premieres for numerous notable films including La Dolce Vita, The Godfather, Braveheart, Mission Impossible, Inglourious Basterds and many more.