“He Named Me Malala”: An inside look at Davis Guggenheim’s new film

It’s been almost three years since the world came to know Malala Yousafzai. On Oct. 9, 2012, the 15-year-old Pakistani girl was shot in the head by Taliban men for standing up for her right to go to school. 

After months in a hospital bed, Malala picked up right where she left off in her fight to give every girl the chance to get an education. She has become an activist and symbol for girls’ and women’s rights around the world. In December 2014, she became the youngest person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

Oscar-winning documentary director Davis Guggenheim spent 18 months with Malala and her family, capturing her travels to schools across the world as well as her quite normal family life in Birmingham, England. Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric sat down with Guggenheim to talk about his new film, “He Named Me Malala,” which will be released tomorrow.  

“I realized that there was this very complex relationship between her and her father,” says Guggenheim about setting out to make the film, adding, “I wanted to unpack the mystery between this man and this girl.”

“He Named Me Malala”: An inside look at Davis Guggenheim’s new film