I had the chance to attend a screening of “He Named Me Malala” directed by Davis Guggenheim, at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2015. I was so excited to see this film that I had been anticipating ever since Malala premiered the trailer on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart in the spring.
We have all seen clips of Malala over the past few years – her speech at the UN on her 16th birthday, her accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, her many trips overseas and so many inspiring moments profiling her as a powerful activist for education. But we rarely get to see Malala as a person. She is a student, a teenager, a daughter, sister and friend. For me and for so many others, one of the things that I loved about the film is that we got to know Malala personally and see her journey from her perspective and her life with her family.
What I really loved about the film is that we got to see Malala at home and catch a glimpse of her daily life as a ‘normal’ teenager. For example, we see that she teases her two younger brothers, Atal and Khushal, that she is funny, she likes to watch Cricket (and the players) and that she is learning magic tricks.
On a more serious note, she gives insight into her private life and reveals her insecurities about friendship and school. It was also really interesting to see that challenges that she and her family face as they all adjust to their new lives in a new country.
I’m happy to share some of my personal favourite moments of He Named Me Malala (without giving too much away).
Malala on friendship
You would think that with Malala being so well-known everywhere in the world and her passion for education, she would fit in quite well and make lots of friends at school, right? Malala says otherwise and explains that she feels insecure and different in her school. She explains that she dresses differently than her classmates – the girls’ skirts are shorter than hers. She knows that the way that she dresses – covers herself up – makes her stand out. She also shares that they talk about different things and have different experiences – it’s hard for her to make friends. One of the funny things she said makes her different from her classmates is that “the other girls have boyfriends. Some of them have even dumped boyfriends and have found new ones.”
Malala and her dad.
The scenes that focus on Malala and her relationship with her father, were without doubt, my favourite parts. Over the years we have seen Malala and her father, Ziauddin’s, relationship. When I think about it, we really don’t see Malala without her father by her side. In the documentary though, we see how special their relationship is and they talk about it. When walking into speeches and interviews, she and her father held hands. Malala and Ziauddin also went to Kenya last summer with Free The Children. There they facilitated a class together and asked questions to the students. I loved to see how well they work together. Ziauddin says that he and Malala are “like one soul that lives in two bodies.” So beautiful.
Malala and her studies.
I recently posted about Malala’s report card on social media, which shows that she achieved straight A’s. But Malala explains that she has to work really hard at school. The curriculum between Swat Valley, Pakistan and Birmingham, UK is totally different. She showed the director some of her tests at the beginning of the year. She showed a biology test with a 60% on it. She was quite embarrassed of her marks. She said that she wasn’t at school the day the class learned about one of the parts of the test and so she didn’t get a good mark. She is such a hard worker, she commits to school and she always makes sure that she catches up on her work. While Malala is travelling around the world and fighting for global education, she knows that she has to maintain her own education too.
One of my favourite stories that illustrates this is when Malala was notified that she won the Nobel Peace Prize. She was in science class when the Principal came to tell her the news. She was, of course, excited. She decided to stay until the end of class and the end of the school day before she spoke to the media. For her, it was the right thing to do.
These are just a few of the things that stool out to me after I saw the film. I am going to go and see it again. I am sure that different things will stand out to me. And they will for you too.
He Named Me Malala came out on October 2nd in select theatres! Comment below and tell me what you thought of the film! I would love to hear your thoughts!
I saw the film ‘He named me Malala’ and it was a wonderful documentary. I enjoyed seeing what Malala is like on a day-to-day basis and well what she went through to become the extraordinary young woman she is today. I enjoyed your post on Malala and I, as well as many others, can’t wait until she get older to see how she can inspire as an adult. Great Job!