Tik Tok Star Khaby Lame To Premiere Directorial Debut At Taormina Film Festival

Twenty-three-year-old Khaby Lame, the man who has become the most followed creator on Tik Tok with 141.1 million followers, will transition to the big screen by premiering his directorial short film debut at the Taormina Film Festival.

The festival will take place at the Ancient Theatre of Taormina. Lame was invited to take part in the festival by Bella Thorne who is this year’s curator of the event’s “influential shorts” gala evening.

Lame who is a Senegalese-born Italian, rose to popularity by creating videos on Tik Tok mocking complicated life hacks, performing the hacks in a simple way. In particular, the rising star does the performances silently and adds in a signature hand gesture. Lame made headlines when he signed a multi-year partnership with Hugo Boss in January 2022 and was featured in the #BeYourOwnBoss campaign. He also was appointed as a juror on the television show Italia’s Got Talent this year.

“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,” said festival co-artistic director Barrett Wissman.

Details about Lame’s short film are currently being kept under wraps, but he is in the process of creating, producing and directing the project.