He Named Me Malala: The official trailer is out!
Enter the story of one of the most famous teenagers of all time in the upcoming documentary, ‘He Named Me Malala’.
Few seventeen year-olds get invitations to appear on the The Daily Show, fewer are awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, but all too many have suffered the same fate as teenage activist, Malala Yousafzai. And in the upcoming documentary, He Named Me Malala by Davis Guggenheim, we relive and celebrate her journey from the quiet town of Swat Valley to the international stage.
Hailing from an area in Northwestern Pakistan where Taliban forces have banned females from attending school, Malala was shot at close range by a gunman for her active campaigning to get girls to school. The event sparked widespread outrage, with United Nations envoy Gordon Brown launching a petition in her honour, eventually leading to the establishment of Pakistan’s first Right to Education Bill.
Given all the outpouring of attention on and support for her, Malala might as well be the world’s most famous teenager. But that’s just it. She is a teenager, a fact that many gloss over, but one that is excellently brought out in the documentary. We see Malala’s youngest brother playfully confessing that ‘she is little bit naughty…just little bit’, followed by shots of her browsing Instagram and complaining about schoolwork, just like any other teen.
The film’s title stands testament to her famous statement ‘my father only gave me the name Malala, he didn’t make me Malala’, where Malala’s namesake is a girl who was killed for speaking out. Given all that she has been through, we’re sure she embodies incredible strength and perseverance. Yet behind all that, we find just a warm, humorous girl who likes to have fun. And like any good story, it is equally important to see both sides.
My Name is Malala will be released in cinemas around Singapore on February 25th, 2016.
Yijie Zhang
