By Caroline Smith
When Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban in 2012 on her way to school, she became – almost overnight – an icon of the struggle for women’s education around the world.
Before this, she was known only in her native Pakistan, where she had spoken out against the regime’s denial of schooling to girls, and had blogged anonymously about the experience with the help of BBC journalists.
But, along with her status as human-rights campaigner and winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize (together with Indian children’s rights activist, Kailash Satyarthi), Malala is also a student, a teenage girl and member of a loving family – aspects which are perhaps best revealed in Davis Guggenheim’s film, He Named Me Malala.
For those who come fresh to Yousafzai’s story, Guggenheim’s 2015 documentary provides a detailed account of her life and activism in Pakistan, attempted assassination by the Taliban and her life afterwards – but it also provides a historical context, including a famous namesake.
An early scene tells the story of Malalai of Maiwand, a Pashtun folk hero often compared to St Joan of Arc, who led local people against British forces in 1880, and who gave the modern-day Malala her name.
The documentary-style film touches on the significance of this naming, for the historical Malalai also became a martyr for her actions. However, Yousafzai says, “My father only gave me the name Malalai. He didn’t make me Malalai. I chose this life”.
The historical tale is told through animation, and Guggenheim uses this technique throughout the film to illustrate other important moments, such as Yousafzai’s decision to speak out against the Taliban, her father’s opening of a local school, and her mother – discouraged from education – swapping schoolbooks for sweets in her youth.
Malala Yousafzai at the United Nations. The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner was shot by the Taliban in 2012 on her way to school and has gone on to become an icon of the struggle for women’s education around the world. Photo: Supplied.
It also uses juxtaposition, cutting scenes where Malala speaks to the United Nations or TV hosts like Jon Stewart, with playful interactions with her brothers Khushal and Atal, and conversations about boys and friends at her new school in Birmingham, England.
Guggenheim presents an individual woven from typical teenage characteristics, together with a passionate dedication to education – inherited from her father – and faith – inherited from her mother.
Education is a continuing theme in the film, discussed through the actions and comments of Malala’s father, Ziaudden, who is himself a teacher and poet who spoke up for women’s education in Pakistan, and encouraged his daughter to do the same.
One important scene shows him adding Malala’s name to the family tree, where women had previously been unmentioned: in this way, it is indicated that giving girls an identity through education and naming allows them to take their rightful place in society, in Pakistan and elsewhere.
Her parents’ stories also touch upon this, particularly her mother Tor Pekai’s experience of growing up in a world where women were not expected to go to school, but instead readied for marriage and family in their teens.
He Named Me Malala is both an informative and contemplative film, revealing its titular heroine to be a normal girl, albeit one shaped by a passion for learning and justice.
By following Malala’s work at the UN and with schoolgirls overseas, it presents the possibility of a world in which women are educated and full citizens and, by reflecting on her beliefs, it considers the value of forgiveness.