Shot for Going to School

British journalist Nelufar Hedayat grew up in Pakistan before moving to Britain at the age of seven. Accordingly, she’s enjoyed freedom and opportunity beyond the wildest dreams of girls like Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban for having the temerity to speak out in favour of education.

Hedayat’s film, in which she returns to Pakistan to meet schoolfriends of Malala, various advocates of education and a couple of bewilderingly illogical hardliners, feels extremely well-intentioned and may serve as a useful primer for British kids who don’t quite realise how lucky they are. It doesn’t offer much in the way of depth – where are the government in all this, for example? – but it does emphasise Malala’s bravery, while prompting the thought that the British and American authorities should think very carefully about opening negotiations with wilful medievalists like the Taliban.