Vanessa Bryant is one proud mom!
On Monday, the mother shared a carousel of Natalia Bryant photos on Instagram to celebrate her oldest daughter’s directorial debut as a film student at the University of Southern California.
“So proud of you @nataliabryant !!!” – wrote 41-year-old Vanessa. “You’ve balanced school, friends, family, your sorority, your internships, your modeling jobs, your runway debut, and your film responsibilities and projects!”
She continued: “You still find time to be present and responsible for everything you do and show up to every family event your schedule allows. I can’t express how proud we are of you. We love you very much.”
Vanessa then added, “Proud mom, dad and sisters for sure! 😘❤️,” a touching nod to Natalia’s late father Kobe Bryant and sister Gianna, who died in a 2020 helicopter crash that also killed seven other people.
Vanessa Bryant says she’s ‘so proud’ of daughter Natalia for speaking at Kobe’s handprint ceremony
In the photos, Natalia, 20, hugged Vanessa, posed with a large group of friends and family – including younger sister Bianca, 7, who excitedly gave her a big hug – and was showered with numerous bouquets of flowers at her post-premiere party.
The model has long had an interest in film – something she shared in an interview with IMG Models 2021 – and credits her father, Kobe, for her interest in becoming a part of the film industry.
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Vanessa Bryant/Instagram
In the interview, Natalia shared how her father inspired her to seek an Oscar after he won it in 2018 for Best Animated Short Film for Dear basketball.
“My dad and I would always watch as many movies as possible and go on movie marathons,” Natalia said at the time. “And then we would always analyze as many films as possible and talk about the moons.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Natalia explained that she and Kobe would often find connections between things during their travel adventures and things they saw in movies. “It’s just stuff like that… It really inspired me and I said, ‘I want to do this forever.'”
Last month, Vanessa paid tribute to her late husband with a sweet Instagram photo of the two of them 24 years ago, a nod to Kobe’s iconic jersey number.
Vanessa Bryant enjoys a fun vacation in Spain with her daughters — see the photos!
In the photo, she poses next to Kobe while he hugs her waist with one arm, and she snuggles up to his chest. Both Kobe and Vanessa are smiling from ear to ear in the shot.
“24 years ago… Day 1 #1999 👑❤️ 11/27/99,” she wrote in the caption.
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Source: HIS Education