He Named Me Malala Brings Positivity from Anguish

By Denise Bosquez |

At 11 years old, Malala Yousafzai was shot at her right eye by the Taliban for her strong hold on female education. Getting through recovery when she was not even expected to survive, Malala has accomplished many outstanding achievements. Yousafzai, the youngest ever to be nominated and win a Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17, published her first book ‘I Am Malala’ when she was 16, and recently at 18, released a profound new documentary reflected from her book, ‘He Named Me Malala.’

The film covers Yousafzai’s journey on overcoming the struggles that came with her support of education for females. ‘He Named Me Malala’ was released Oct. 2 in selected theaters.

Ziauddin and Tor Pekai Yousafzai, parents of Malala, shared their outlook on their daughter’s fame, as well as her siblings, Atal Yousafzai and Khushal Yousafzai. People whom helped Yousafzai in her recovery were shown as well,  helping Malala regain her physical strength and balance.

Director of the documentary, Davis Guggenheim, is known for directing other famous documentaries like ‘Waiting For Superman’ and U2’s ‘From the Sky Down.’  The film is an hour and 28 minutes long, and showed for a brief time in local theaters, but is no longer showing in Texas. Although ‘I Am Malala’, the book based from the film, is sold at local book stores and Target.

The documentary follows Malala on her journey to her recovery and stardom, as well as reflecting on the reactions of people from Pakistan, her home country. You can clearly tell Malala is passionate about female education it makes you want to get up right there and take action to put positivity in the world.

With the overwhelming great feedback Yousafzai receives there has to be more than just the film shows. With positivity comes negativity; if you only see one side there really is no way to completley appreciate the objective, which is how I felt. The dark side of her reality should have been shown so the viewer could see how much compassion she has for female education, and although there are huge obstacles she must face it’ll not stop her and the intense endearment she has for female education opportunities.

The documentary is extremely uplifting for younger crowds as well as adults, although I do feel as there was a piece missing. But the film is definitely worth watching when it comes to Netflix.