The real coup of this year’s BFI London Film Festival is a
Documentary special presentation of He Named Me Malala, an intimate
portrait of the Nobel Peace Prize- winning teenage activist who, after standing
up for her right to an education, was targeted by the Taliban and shot on the
bus to school in Pakistan. As the world
held their breath, Malala battled to survive the gunshot to the left side of
her head, which drove tiny pieces of skull into her brain. Inspired by the autobiography I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for
Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, filmmaker Davis Guggenheim looks at
the events leading up to the shooting, and the extraordinary repercussions on
both the life of Malala and her family.
What Davis has managed to achieve with this remarkable film
is to bring a story of real heroism within our lifetime to the big screen in
an honest but accessible way. With this
closeness to Malala, the cameras are seeing her world behind the eyes of the
media to answer the question: Just who is Malala?
The gem of the documentary lies in the Title: He Named Me Malala. This is referring to her father, Ziauddin
Yousafzai, who named her ‘Malala’ after a brave woman within popular Afghanstan urban
legend, who inspired the army in an attack by the British in 1880 with her words of encouragement, but was herself shot on the
battlefield. A teacher, activist and
political commentator in his own right, it is clear from his passion and
beliefs where Malala’s strength is inherited; “If you keep silent,” says
Ziauddin, “you lose the right to exist”. At another moment, you see his
daughter confidently leading a lesson to other children on the reasons why
Hitler rose to power.
We know that Malala is driven, intelligent and fiercely
outspoken, but what we get to see in this documentary is the relationship with
her family, as well as her friends both back in Pakistan and the UK (Malala
cannot return to Pakistan due to death threats from the Taliban, and therefore
is currently in Birmingham.) Immersed in
her new life, we watch as Malala studies for her GCSEs, deflects questions
about potential boyfriends (in one of the sweetest, stand-out scenes of the
film) and talk about missing a home that she isn’t sure that she can return
to. These moments pepper a film that highlights
the public engagement schedule that she has to promote The Malala Fund, which
works to secure girls' right to a minimum of 12 years of quality education,
particularly in the global south.
“I am not just Malala” she states. "I am the girls who are still not in
education, I am many.” What would you
have been like if you had had a ‘normal’ life? One reporter asks her. “ If I had an ‘ordinary’ father, an ‘ordinary’
mother’, an ‘ordinary’ life...” Malala answered, “I would have two children
now. You would be sitting across from
Malala and her babies.” What this film
attempts to examine is how this girl angered the Taliban, how she was already the strong, courageous child
that we know today, before the shooting.
The publicity from the event gave Malala a louder voice, but it was a
voice that she already had. It serves to
inspire, to teach, but most of all, to act upon.
You can watch the documentary as part of this year's BFI London Film Festival. See the programme here.