Title: He Named Me Malala
Genre: Documentary
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: December 15, 2015
About the Movie:
HE NAMED ME MALALA is an intimate portrait of Malala Yousafzai, who was wounded when Taliban gunmen opened fire on her and her friends’ school bus in Pakistan’s Swat Valley.The then 15-year-old teenager, who had been targeted for speaking out on behalf of girls’ education in her region of Swat Valley in Pakistan, was shot in the head, sparking international media outrage. An educational activist in Pakistan, Yousafzai has since emerged as a leading campaigner for the rights of children worldwide and in December 2014, became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
My Review:
I knew a bit about Malala Yousafzai from watching her interview with Diane Sawyer back in 2013. I was very impressed by her bravery and by her father’s commitment to her and her brother’s education.
After seeing He Named Me Malala, I am even more in awe of the Yousafzai family’s determination, as well as their capacity for forgiveness.
In the movie, we learn that Zia Yousafzai named his daughter Malala (against his wife’s wishes), after a strong heroine of the second Anglo-Afghan war. The heroine, Malalai, picked up the Afghan flag after the flag bearer died and rallied her fellow fighters. Malala’s father told the story this way, “It is better to live one day as a lion than to live as a slave for 100 years.”
I believe that her strong birth name is part of the reason why Malala refused to give up her fight for education for all girls, even after she was nearly killed by the Taliban. Even knowing she could never go back home to Pakistan or she would be killed.
Another amazing trait of Malala and her father is their capacity for forgiveness. Zia tells the filmmaker, “A person didn’t shoot my daughter. An ideology did.”
For all of Malala’s selflessness, though, one of my favorite parts of the movie, was seeing Malala in day to day interactions with her parents and brothers. She really is just a normal teenage girl, in many ways, who was born into extraordinary circumstances. What she makes of those circumstances is what makes her so amazing.
Won’t you join me and stand #withMalala?
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Review Wire Media for 20th Century Fox. I received information to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.
