Role model and educational advocate Malala Yousafzai’s inspiring and remarkable story is headed for the big screen, Abu Dhabi-based film company Image Nation announced recently.
The Pakistani teenager survived a brutal assassination attempt at the tender age of 14 by the Taliban due to her commitment to promoting girls’ education in the region. In 2012 gunmen boarded her school bus in the Swat Valley and opened fire, shooting her in the head and neck, and leaving her for dead.
Image Nation revealed that Participant Media will co-finance the documentary from Parkes + MacDonald Productions.
The documentary will be directed by Academy Award-winner Davis Guggenheim, whose credits include Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ and ‘Waiting for Superman’, and will be produced by Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald. Production will start in July, with the feature-length film expected to be released by early next year.
“Malala is an inspiration all over the world and we are honoured to play a part in bringing her story to the big screen. We have believed in this project from its inception and are now pleased to have Participant Media, who are strong advocates for social action, as a financing partner on the project,” said Michael Garin, CEO of Image Nation.
The UAE dispatched a specialised medical team to Pakistan, days after the assassination attempt, to help facilitate her transfer to the UK for further medical treatment and were quick to denounce the attack.
“The attempt on Malala’s life was not only an attack on a defenseless child, it was an attack on her and every girl’s right to a future unlimited by prejudice and oppression,” said General HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, during the ordeal. “We must all stand with Malala in promoting tolerance and respect.”
For more information or to find out about Malala and her charity, visit:
www.malalafund.org
