Malala Yousafzai isn’t just a worldwide activist or the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner,­­ she’s a modern-day teenage girl. She also just happens be a revolutionist for girls’ education. When Malala was just fifteen (my age), she was shot by the Taliban on her school bus. Why on earth would these people shoot a teenage girl, you may ask? Malala was (and still is) a girl just trying to enrich her life with knowledge. She stood up for what she believed in; something her shooters and the Taliban believed made her worthy of death.

A few weeks ago I got the opportunity to see an advance screening of He Named Me Malala (in theaters now). It’s a documentary about the extraordinary Malala Yousafzai. The film details Malala’s life leading up to the attack on her and her life afterwards. It depicts both the quite ordinary parts of her life like going to school, dealing with annoying siblings, and having crushes and the quite unordinary parts like speaking to the United Nations, winning awards, and calling out President Obama for not doing enough. Through beautiful animations, heartfelt stories, and interviews viewers learn that Malala was destined to do great things. She has the continuous courage to do so.

I also got the chance to be a part of a conference call with the director of the film, Davis Guggenheim. Mr. Guggenheim was also a producer for the film and personally spent time with Malala and her family in their new United Kingdom home.

The documentary gets its name, He Named Me Malala, from the fact that Malala’s father her after a great heroine in a story tale. It is almost as if Malala’s father knew his daughter was destined for greatness. However as the film somewhat discusses, some people doubt Malala is actually speaking her mind. They believe her father is actually controlling her and telling Malala what to say. Mr. Guggenheim assured this is not the case and said, “Malala takes her own­­she takes responsibility for her own actions. She said he did not push me. I chose to do this. I chose to speak out”.

Like her namesake, Malala and her family stand up for what they believe in. The director mentioned, “For them, they would rather die than not speak out. It’s a part of their faith, that speaking out against tyranny is something that’s their duty to do”. When asked about the safety of Malala and her family, Mr. Guggenheim said, “It’s funny, they don’t live in fear, Malala and her family. They’re very focused on their work and that’s the thing that makes me happy. She’s very focused on her mission and feels lucky to be alive and doesn’t live in any kind of bitterness which is very inspiring to me”.

Malala is a girl who can be an inspiration to anyone. Mr. Guggenheim said, “To me I wanted the story to speak to girls. I wanted girls to feel like this was their story”. He went on to say, “My dream is that girls feel like it’s their movie and they own it”. Don’t worry, this film and Malala’s story isn’t actually just meant for girls. It’s a movie for anyone who believes in equality, the right of free speech, and the basic right of girls to have access to education. These are all things that we tend to take granted here at Minnetonka High School. If you want your eyes to be opened and your heart inspired see this film. It’s worth every praise it receives.

If you want more information on Malala, her story, or her campaign visit:

https://www.malala.org/