Malala Yousafzai at the Kisaruni Girls School in Massai Mara, Kenya.

Malala was the name on everyone’s lips this week at the London Film Festival where a documentary about the youngest-ever Nobel Peace laureate had its European premiere.

“He named me Malala” is an intimate portrait of Malala Yousafzai, the passionate Pakistani advocate of girls’ education who survived a brutal Taliban gun attack in 2012.

Even the festival’s biggest stars seemed humbled by the teenager and her aspirations.

American actress Meryl Streep hailed her as the worthy heiress of the suffragettes who battled for the the right to vote in Britain in the early 20th century.

Filmed over 18 months in Britain, Kenya, Nigeria, Abu Dhabi and Jordan, the documentary by American David Guggenheim recalls how Malala’s father chose her name in honor of Malalai of Maiwand, a heroine who rallied the Pashtun army against British troops in 1880.

“When I was little, many people would say, ‘Change Malala’s name. It’s a bad name, it means sad.’ But my father would always say, ‘No, it has another meaning. Bravery’,” the 18-year-old said.

On screen, the teenager is seen at her home in Birmingham, central England, explaining to her father in the family living room how Twitter works, or squabbling with her brothers, Atal and Khushal.

“She’s fighting for human rights but at home she’s so violent,” complained Atal after being beaten in an arm wrestling match.

The film follows her at school, in the streets of New York, at a refugee camp, spreading her optimistic and determined message on the right to education.

“One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world,” she proclaimed.

Guggenheim turns to animation to bring to life these years before the attempted assassination in October 2012, when Taliban gunmen opened fire on then 14-year-old Malala on her school bus.

The cartoons, matching photos from the family album, also evoke the childhood of Malala’s mother, Toor Pekai Yousafzai, who recalled her own brief education Friday at London’s Women in the World summit.

“I left school because I was the only girl in a class full of boys. I just wanted to play with my cousins who were girls,” she said in Pashtun, adding that she is now trying to learn to read and write in English.

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