He Named Me Malala review: Courage under fire

Malala was named by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, after the teenage Afghani woman who rallied Pashtun fighters against British troops in the 19th century.

He Named Me Malala (documentary)
Direction: Davis Guggenheim
Rating: 3/5

Malala was named by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, after the teenage Afghani woman who rallied Pashtun fighters against British troops in the 19th century.

An intimate portrait of the fearless young advocate for women’s education, He Named Me Malala is one of the significant films of the year. Using extensive interviews with his subject and her family as well as newsreel footage, award-winning documentarian Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) sheds new light on the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Malala was named by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, after the teenage Afghani woman who rallied Pashtun fighters against British troops in the 19th century.

Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for speaking out in support of girls’ education in Pakistan. Transferred to a hospital in Birmingham in the UK, she miraculously survived. We follow Malala as she builds a new life for herself, all the while continuing her campaign on behalf of girls who have been denied basic education.

Zia Yousafzai and Malala Yousafzai and Syrian refugee Rimah in Syrian Refugee Tent Camp in Jordan.

Even as she speaks at international events and meets with global dignitaries, Malala leads a fairly conventional life at home — squabbling with her two younger brothers or gushing over her sports idols, cricketer Shahid Afridi and tennis player Roger Federer.