He Named Me Malala, a documentary about Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, has been picked up by Fox Searchlight for worldwide distribution (except for France, where it will be distributed by Studiocanal). The documentary, directed by Davis Cunningham (Waiting for Superman), is an intimate portrait of the young Pakistani activist, who was nearly killed by the Taliban when she was 15 years old for speaking out in support of girls’ education in her region and around the world. She became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner in history two years later, after her story and activism had brought her international renown.
The release of He Named Me Malala, which is expected for later this year, will be accompanied by a fundraising campaign by Yousafzai’s non-profit, the Malala Fund, which advocates for girls’ education worldwide. The movie will be produced and financed by Image Nation Abu Dhabi and Participant Media, which was behind last year’s Oscar-winning Edward Snowden documentary Citizenfour.
As Yousafzai has inspired millions of people around the world, it seemed inevitable that there would be a film dedicated to her at some point. It will be interesting to see what new insights the film will provide about Malala’s life story, which is already so well-known and admired.
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