Film About Malala Highlights Scranton’s International Women’s Day Celebration

Mar 1, 2016
“He Named Me Malala” is the first of three “Women in Asia” films to be screened this spring at The University of Scranton to celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. All three films will be shown, free of charge, at 7 p.m. in the Moskovitz Theater of the DeNaples Center.
“He Named Me Malala” is the first of three “Women in Asia” films to be screened this spring at The University of Scranton to celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. All three films will be shown, free of charge, at 7 p.m. in the Moskovitz Theater of the DeNaples Center.

To celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, The University of Scranton will show a film titled “He Named Me Malala” (2015), an intimate portrait of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai. The screening, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Tuesday, March 8, at 7 p.m. in the Moskovitz Theater of the DeNaples Center.

Born in 1997 in Pakistan, Yousafzai was severely wounded at the age of 15 when Taliban gunmen opened fire on her school bus in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. Targeted for speaking out on behalf of girls’ education, she was shot in the head, sparking international media outrage. She miraculously survived to become an educational activist in Pakistan and a leading global campaigner for the rights of children and girls to have access to an education. In December 2014, she became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. The film is directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, who also directed “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for Superman.”

“He Named Me Malala” is presented by the Asian Studies Program at The University of Scranton, in partnership with Education for Justice, the Department of Latin American and Women’s Studies, and the Cross Cultural Centers (Multicultural Center & Jane Kopas Women’s Center). The screening will be followed by a panel discussion led by Riaz Hussain, Ph.D., associate professor of finance at the University, and Annina Mirza, Ph.D., instructor of social and behavioral sciences at Keystone College. During a light reception immediately following the panel discussion, participants will also learn about ways they can support the initiatives of the Malala Fund for girls’ education and the rights of children worldwide.

“He Named Me Malala” is the first of a three-part film series during the spring semester under the theme “Women in Asia: Traditions, Transformation, and Modernization.” On Tuesday, March 29, “Taste of Life” (2015) will be shown, followed by a question and answer session with its award-winning director Yu-Shan Huang as a part of her U.S. film tour, co-sponsored with the Taipei Cultural Center in New York. On Tuesday, April 19, “Seeking Asian Females” (2012), a PBS awarding-winning documentary by Debbie Lum, will be shown. The screening will be followed by a discussion led by Meghan Ashlin Rich, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology/criminal justice and women’s studies at the University.

All three films, which are shown free of charge and open to the public, will be screened at 7 p.m. in the Moskovitz Theater of the DeNaples Center.

For more information, contact Ann A. Pang-White, Ph.D., director of Asian studies, at ann.pang-white@scranton.edu or 570-941-7643.

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