Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has signed a deal for three films with Apple Inc, Variety has reported.
Malala launched her production house, Extracurricular, early last year. In March 2021, she struck a programming deal with Apple Inc to produce dramas, comedies, documentaries, animation, and children’s series.
“I hope that through this partnership, I will be able to bring new voices to this platform, to this stage,” Malala told Reuters in an interview last year. “I hope that through me, more young people and girls will watch these shows, and get inspired.”
Apple produced a documentary about Malala in 2015 and teamed up with Malala Fund in 2018 to promote secondary education for girls across the globe.
A feature documentary with A24 about South Korea’s matriarchal Haenyeo society of elderly fisherwomen is currently in production at Extracurricular.
“What I hope to bring to the table are the voices of women of color, and debut writers and Muslim directors and writers,” Malala told Variety.
“I hope we can have a wide range of perspectives and that we challenge some of the stereotypes we hold in our societies. And I also hope that the content is entertaining and that people fall in love with the characters and have the best time together.”
According to Variety, the first project is a feature film adaptation of Elaine Hsieh Chou’s acclaimed book Disorientation, a satire published earlier this year about a college student’s revealing dissertation on a young poet. The project will be produced by Don’t Look Up helmer Adam McKay’s Hyperobject Industries, with Stephanie Mercado and Todd Schulman overseeing.
“I’m not sure there is anyone who knows the struggle and the value of an informed and educated life more than Malala Yousafzai,” says Angelina Jolie, a mentor to Yousafzai for the past 10 years.
“She fought for hers, nearly losing her life. She fights for others and now will be supporting film projects that contribute and share important narratives.”
The second project is 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 II Japan.
