October 5, 2015
(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every
day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)
When
I taught seventh-graders, some of my female students hated school and couldn’t
wait until they could either quit or eventually graduate from high school,
marry and have children. They saw education as a chore. Some came back to
school to visit their former teachers and show off their babies. The mothers
still looked like children themselves. I wish they had seen the movie I saw
last night.
As
a member of the Maryland Film Festival, from time to time I have a chance to
receive two movie preview tickets. Some of these movies are winners (Slumdog Millionaire), some are losers (Stuck) and most are in-between. Tonight’s
preview at Harbor East Landmark Theatre was a winner.
He Named Me Malala,
a documentary by Davis Guggenheim, is the compelling story of Malala Yousafzai,
a young Pakistani girl from the beautiful remote Swat region, who champions
girls’ rights to education. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai named her after a
national Pakistani folk hero, a female who rallied Pashtun fighters against
British troops in 1880 and led her people to victory in battle saying, “It is
better to live one day as a lion than 100 days as a slave.” October of 2012 on
the way to school on a bus, the real Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban
who wanted to squelch her activism. Not expected to survive, after surgery and
therapy in England, she thrives and continues to speak out for the right to
education. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, the youngest person
to ever receive this prize.
In the film, Malala was asked what kind of life she would have now if she had had a more ordinary life. She replied that she would have two children now.
Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons." ~ Malala Yousafzai
Continue here to read my review of this film: http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2015/10/he-called-me-malala.html
My gift today is an inspiring young
girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Documentary
Runtime: 87 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Availability: Select theaters October 2
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Music composed by: Thomas Newman
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Producers: Davis Guggenheim, Laurie MacDonald, Walter Parkes
> Day 301: Mental Starch
You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
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