HE NAMED ME MALALA
Davis Guggenheim

May 24th, 2022

Our Friday Film for April is ‘He Named Me Malala’, Davis Guggenheim’s impeccable 2015 documentary feature which chronicles the life of Malala Yousafzai. 

The title of Davis Guggenheim’s film ‘He Named Me Malala’ references the impactful relationship between Malala and her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, who was an outspoken supporter of women’s education and a mentor to whom Malala credits much of her outlook on education. It also refers to Malala’s name (meaning ‘grief-stricken’), which her father derived from Malalai of Maiwand, an Afghan hero who inspired the win in the Battle of Maiwand in 1880 at only 18/19. She was killed fighting for her rights in Afghanistan. 

HE NAMED ME MALALA is an intimate portrait of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was targeted by the Taliban and severely wounded by a gunshot when returning home on her school bus in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The then 15-year-old was singled out, along with her father, for advocating for girls’ education, and the attack on her sparked an outcry from supporters around the world. She miraculously survived and is now a leading campaigner for girls’ education globally as co-founder of the Malala Fund.

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman) shows us how Malala, her father Zia and her family are committed to fighting for education for all girls worldwide. The film gives us an inside glimpse into this extraordinary young girl’s life – from her close relationship with her father who inspired her love for education, to her impassioned speeches at the UN, to her everyday life with her parents and brothers.

Please join us this May in watching He Named Me Malala
Available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.