He named me Malala
Walking into the cinema...
Do you remember the story of the school girl who was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan for wanting to go to school? Her name is Malala.
Overall Rating: 3.5 stars
Cinematic rating: 3 stars
Bigger questions rating: 4 stars
In 2012, Malala Yousafzai was travelling to school with the rest of her classmates when a Taliban gunman came up to the bus, asked her name and shot her in the head. Miraculously, she survived the attack, but this teenager's life was forever changed after this incident. Malala had to recover in England and her family had to flee from their homeland of Pakistan. The reason for the attack was blamed on the public stand she made on the provision of education for girls in this Taliban-dominated region of Pakistan. The perpetrators may have thought they were silencing this young education advocate, but their actions quickly led to the world being aware of this incident and to the unexpected fame of this outspoken teenager. This new film from Academy Award winning director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) provides the background for her public role and opens the door to the personal life of this young activist. Throughout the narrative he provides the details of the origin for her name, her family heritage in speaking out for the rights of others, the school bus tragedy and her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
Guggenheim has become the champion of documentaries that have mass appeal. He has a knack for finding subjects that are timely and manages to develop the necessary drama for audiences to experience the life of the central characters and even prompt them to take action. In this fast-paced news world, Malala’s story may have fallen out of world-wide consciences over the last three years, but the important issues surrounding the well-being of girls education and the long-term effects of the Taliban around the world keep this story in the minds eye of the public. The exploration of Malala’s life will take most western audiences into an other-worldly experience from the schoolgirl experience in the Swat Valley of Northern Pakistan to speaking before the United Nations on the topic of education.
Click on this link for the rest of the review and discussion questions on this compelling film...
