Malala Yousafzai on her Hollywood reinvention: ‘It’s been an incredible journey’
It’s almost 12 years to the day that a Taliban gunman shot schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai in the head as she travelled home from an exam on a school bus packed with fellow pupils.
Now one of Pakistan’s best-known public figures, the activist, Oxford graduate and youngest Nobel laureate in history is releasing her first feature.
Malala addresses the United Nations on her 16th birthday. Pic: Reuters
The 27-year-old tells Sky News: “I’m pretty new to Hollywood, but it’s been an incredible journey for me so far.”
An outspoken critic of Muslim under-representation in Hollywood films, Yousafzai founded her production company Extracurricular in 2021 in partnership with Apple TV + in a bid to “shake things up”.
She says: “There are so many passionate women and artists from different diverse backgrounds, including Muslim communities and people of colour and they have incredible stories.
“I hope to work with more incredible artists and directors out there in the many years ahead to help us bring more perspectives and more voices and reflections from people who don’t often get a chance.”
A 2022 study showed that Muslims are 25% of the population, but only 1% of characters in popular TV series.
As for whether it’s getting better, Yousafzai says: “There are incredible Muslim artists who are really changing the narrative, and I do hope that more of them will get a chance to tell their story and just bring more diversity to how stories are told.”
She says the documentary she’s just released – The Last Of The Sea Women, about a group of female divers in their 60s, 70s and 80s – is “an amazing beginning” to her new adventure as a Hollywood executive.
Extracurricular has previously said it would consider producing a fictionalised account of her attempted assassination but signalled they first need to find a “surprising way in” to the story.
And Yousafzai is full of surprises.
(R-L): Lee Hee Soon, Malala Yousafzai, Sue Kim and Jang Soon Duk. Pic: Apple TV +
Malala Made Me Do It
Earlier this year, she made her acting debut in the second season of Channel 4’s reverential and hugely popular comedy We Are Lady Parts.
Her episode even featured a spoof song inspired by her activism – Malala Made Me Do It.
Yousafzai’s passionate advocacy for access to education for women and girls in countries where it is restricted is now stepping into a new realm – entertainment.
Her deal with Apple will cover dramas, comedies, documentaries, animation and children’s series.
Future productions include a movie adaptation of Elaine Hsieh Chou’s book Disorientation, and a scripted series based on Asha Lemmie’s coming-of-age novel Fifty Words For Rain, about a woman’s search for acceptance in post-World War Two Japan.
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The Last Of The Sea Women tells the story of the Haenyeo, a “badass girl gang” of grandmothers living on South Korea‘s Jeju Island who dive to the ocean floor without oxygen to gather food for their community.
Earning a reputation as real-life mermaids, despite diving for centuries, their traditions are now under threat.
In a bid to save their way of life, they are now teaching younger women, who being from Generation Z, are sharing their stories on TikTok.
Haenyeo divers of South Korea’s Jeju Island. Pic: Apple TV+
Elderly Asian women ‘as heroes’
The film’s director Sue Kim – who calls working with Malala “the joy and pleasure of my life” – says she was excited to showcase an underrepresented group in her work.
“It’s rare to see women portrayed as the sole heroes in the film. Two Asian women are not often portrayed as the soul heroes in the film. And then elderly Asian women.
“It’s three demographics where I do think there’s a bit of a gap of representation and portrayal in the heroic world. And that was something I was excited to show in the film.”
Yousafzai says of the Haenyeo: “When I look to them, I personally, as a woman, feel that there’s no limit to what I can do.”
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She goes on: “We would be in a very good place if we were under the leadership of the Haenyeo, for sure…
“We need women in leadership. We need a society where women can get equal opportunities. And a woman should never be told that she cannot be in a certain role.”
Previously nominated for an Oscar for the documentary short Stranger At The Gate, Yousafzai is optimistic The Last Of The Sea Women could be part of the next awards conversation too.
“Why not? I think it deserves all the applause and the credit.”
The Last Of The Sea Women is streaming now on Apple TV +
A woman who saw a man falling from an upper tier at Wembley Stadium says a similar incident at an Oasis concert over the weekend in which a fan died makes her wonder whether lessons have been learned.
Stephanie Good, 39, said a man fell during a Euro 2020 match between England and Croatia at Wembley in June 2021.
He landed “right next to where we were” on the “stairwell between rows of seats”, she said.
Named as Jon, he reportedly survived but suffered two broken ankles, a fractured femur and fractured pelvis just before kick-off.
Ms Good said she tried to give feedback but was unable to and felt the “emergency response was really lacking”.
Oasis, meanwhile, said they were “shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of a fan” at their Wembley concert on Saturday.
The man reportedly fell from the stadium’s upper tier.
In his 40s, he was found with “injuries consistent with a fall” and pronounced dead at the scene, the Met Police said.
Ms Good, an NHS manager from east London, said what happened at the Oasis gig was “so similar” to what she witnessed that it made her wonder “were lessons learned”?
Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage for the first Wembley night of the Oasis reunion tour. Pic: Lewis Evans
During that incident, among stadium staff “nobody seemed to know what to do”, she told the Press Association.
She thinks the man may have been trying to attach a flag to the front of a stand and “somehow managed to fall straight over”.
She said: “They (staff) didn’t seem well-trained in terms of how to respond to a really big emergency.
“Their stewards were kind of paralysed a little bit by fear, or they just weren’t well trained and didn’t know how to call for paramedics.
“It was us who were sort of shouting at them that they needed to get some paramedics.
“The first person on the scene wasn’t a stadium paramedic or St John Ambulance. It was an off-duty firefighter who had seen the guy fall and ran down to just try and offer some help.”
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Regarding the follow-up, Ms Good said staff moved spectators to other seats but did not ask for witness statements.
She added: “They didn’t seek any input from people who’d seen the incident or the aftermath of it. They didn’t seem interested in speaking to anybody about it.
“I was a bit concerned, because I felt that the emergency response was really lacking.”
She then tried to get in touch to give feedback, but was unable to do so and did not receive a response to a message on social media, she said.
A Wembley spokesperson said: “Wembley Stadium operates to a very high health and safety standard, fully meeting legal requirements for the safety of spectators and staff, and is certified to and compliant with the ISO 45001 standard.
“We work very closely and collaboratively with all relevant event delivery stakeholders – including event owners, local authorities, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and the police – to deliver events to high standards of safety, security and service for everyone attending or working in the venue.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail ahead of his sentencing on prostitution-related charges.
Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip-hop mogul had failed to show sufficient evidence he is not a flight risk and also cited admissions of previous violence made during his trial.
Combs, 55, has been in prison since his arrest in September last year.
During a two-month trial, jurors heard allegations that he had coerced former girlfriends, including singer and model Cassie Ventura, into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers, while he watched and filmed them.
Diddy fell to his knees after the verdict was delivered last month. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
In July, he was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution – but cleared of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking, which carried potential life sentences.
The rapper’s legal team hailed this a “victory” and immediately applied for bail ahead of sentencing, citing his acquittal on the top charges.
After this was denied, they submitted another application last week. Judge Subramanian has now rejected the request again.
In denying the motion for bail, the judge found Combs had failed to show sufficient evidence to counter arguments he is a flight risk, writing in a court filing: “Increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn’t change the calculus given the circumstances and heavy burden of proof that Combs bears.”
Read more:
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The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Judge Arun Subramanian heard Diddy’s trial and will also sentence the rapper
He also found that an argument by the music star’s legal team that the squalor and danger of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where he is being held, did not warrant release.
“The public outcry concerning these conditions has come from all corners,” the judge wrote. “But as Combs acknowledges, MDC staff has been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate.”
As well as Combs’s bail application, his legal team has also filed a motion calling for him to be acquitted or given a new trial on the prostitution-related charges only.
The judge has not yet responded to this application.
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How the Diddy trial unfolded
How long could Diddy be jailed for?
Combs is due to be sentenced on 3 October and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Discussions on sentencing guidelines which followed the jury’s verdict suggest it is unlikely he will be jailed for this long, with an estimate of around two to five years, taking into account time already served.
However, it is ultimately up to Judge Arun Subramanian to decide the rapper’s punishment.
On Friday, Donald Trump was asked during an interview about a potential pardon for Combs following speculation about the issue.
The president said it was unlikely, adding that the rapper was “very hostile” during his presidential campaign.
Combs, who co-founded Bad Boy Records and launched the career of the late Notorious BIG, was for decades a huge figure in pop culture – a Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and business entrepreneur, who presided over an empire ranging from fashion to reality TV.
As well as the criminal conviction, he is also facing several civil lawsuits.
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