I am Malala

Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai was born in Mingora, Pakistan, to Pashtun parents (ethnic Afghans) and is a human rights activist for female education as well as the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. Influenced by her father’s beliefs and humanitarian work, Malala began her advocacy through blogging for the BBC about her life during the Taliban occupation of Swat, participating in a New York Times documentary of her life, and through giving print and television interviews. The increased attention Malala’s activism brought her and her family made them a target for the Taliban, which culminated in an assassination attempt by the Taliban on Malala’s life on 9 October 2012. After receiving emergency treatment in Pakistan, Malala was transferred to Birmingham, England, for aftercare and rehabilitation. Her parents and younger brothers joined her in England shortly after where they still remain, unable yet to return to Pakistan for safety reasons.

While in Birmingham, Malala co-authored her autobiography and founded the Malala Fund, a non-profit organisation that aims to provide twelve years of free, safe and quality education for every girl. In addition to her 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, Malala was awarded Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize in 2012 and Europe’s Sakharov Prize in 2013. Malala’s other achievements include being the subject of an Oscar-shortlisted documentary He Named Me Malala in 2015, as well as receiving honorary Canadian citizenship and addressing the Canada’s House of Commons. Having completed her secondary education in England, Malala is currently enrolled at Oxford University where she is studying a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Christina Lamb

British journalist and one of Britain’s leading foreign correspondents, Christina Lamb has reported from many of the world’s hotspots, including Afghanistan in 1987 aged 22, and has won fifteen major awards including Europe’s Bayeux-Calvados-Normandy Award for war correspondents. In addition to I am Malala, Lamb has written eight books including bestseller The Africa House.

An Honorary Fellow of University College, Oxford, Lamb was awarded an OBE by the Queen for services to journalism in 2013 and in 2018 received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Dundee.

Lamb is also an inspirational speaker, playwright and performer, and sits on several boards. She currently lives in London with her family.

Pride

Screenwriter: Stephen Beresford

Stephen Beresford was born in London and was drawn to the dramatic arts at a very young age. He began acting with a children’s drama group before he had turned ten. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked both on screen and stage as well as writing. Having heard about the Lesbian and Gay Support group, LGSM, during an argument in the 1990s, he had long fostered the idea of the group as a film or stage project without having opportunity to implement it. However, in a meeting with film producer David Livingstone in 2010, after having been asked if there was any story he would particularly wanted to write, he discussed the idea that would become his first screenplay Pride. The film would earn him a BAFTA award. Beresford went on to write Fanny and Alexander (2018) and The Last of the Haussmans (2012).

Director: Marchus Warchus

Marchus Warchus, from Kent England, is a former student of Selby High School who initially followed his father’s footsteps into acting but found a passion for directing. He has directed theatre, opera and film, including award-winning productions for all the major British theatre companies. Equally comfortable on the stage or screen, Warchus was the youngest director ever on the Stratford main stage of the Royal Shakespeare Company and emerged in film with a debut film, the play Simpatico, which he co-wrote and directed, starring Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges and Sharon Stone. He is married and has children with Broadway actress Lauren Ward and is currently the Artistic Director of the Old Vic Theatre, London.