He Named Me Malala

At 17, Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai became the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. Her work in human rights advocacy for women's education is the focus of Davis Guggenheim's documentary film which traces the events of her coming of age and condemnation under the Taliban.

We're often quick to judge today's teenagers as superficial and impatient but for many when it comes to education, they're smarter and savvier than ever. Then there are the over 60 million girls around the world denied the right to go to school. These are the voices that Yousafzai speaks for. The film's greatest triumph is to let Yousafzai's experience - in all her humility and fearlessness - shine through. By shifting the title from that of her memoir I Am Malala to He Named Me Malala the film centres the narrative on Yousafzai's father to show that a commitment to social justice runs deeper than being shot on a school bus.

The film culminates in two parts - the attempted assassination of Yousafzai as she headed home after an exam and her nomination and award of Nobel Prize laureate. This we see only after being granted an insight into the safety and strangeness of the family's new home in the UK. Yousafzai's "rockstar" status with the UN is downplayed as she struggles to fit into her new life in Birmingham, England and she laughs off the masses of homework expected concurrently with her activist duties. Perhaps the greatest reminder of her age and her culture is her bashful responses to questions about being popular and considering dating. Her wayward smile and concealed giggle show this is a girl who, while taking on the world, is still coming into her own skin.

Some have been eager to call Yousafzai a superhero for our times - a real-life Wonder Woman. In showing her powerful family backstory and poignant mission, the film certainly portrays her as an extraordinary individual.