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The documentary "He Named Me Malala" does something I didn't think was possible: It presents a narrative worthy of its subject, the Pashtun teen activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.

Here's the part of the story most people know: Malala Yousafzai, at 15, was an outspoken advocate for girls' education in her home region in Pakistan's Swat Valley — and her public statements made her a target, literally, of the Taliban that controlled the area. A gunman shot her in the forehead on a school bus on Oct. 9, 2012 (three years ago this Friday). Somehow she survived, and world opinion rallied around her. She has taken her campaign global, advocating for young women's education worldwide.

So how does director Davis Guggenheim — who captured Al Gore's climate-change lecture in "An Inconvenient Truth" and trumpeted charter schools in "Waiting for 'Superman' " — tell a compelling story about a global heroine? By emphasizing her humanity.

In interviews and snippets of the Yousafzai family's life in exile in Birmingham, England, Malala is shown to be a normal teenager. She teases her little brothers, worries about her exams and plays cards with her family. She Googles pictures of Brad Pitt and Roger Federer because they're cute and giggles in embarrassment when Guggenheim asks if she would ever ask a boy out on a date.

The movie also shows the horror of the assassination attempt. Malala herself deflects questions about her suffering, but archival footage and interviews with her doctors show her arduous physical therapy and the aftereffects of the shooting.

Guggenheim also focuses, using gorgeous animation by Jason Carpenter, on the bond between Malala and her father, Ziauddin, an educator in whose school Malala literally grew up. Ziauddin named his daughter after the Afghan folk hero Malalai of Maiwand, a Pashtun teen who led local troops into battle against the British in 1880 — and was killed on the battlefield.

In one touching interview, Guggenheim asks Malala whether her father, through that name choice, fated her to a life of activism and sacrifice. No, Malala replies strongly: "He only gave me the name Malala — he didn't make me Malala. I chose this life."

The movie has quick montages of Malala's public life — rubbing elbows with the likes of Bono and Hillary Clinton, or visiting hotspots like Nigeria or Syrian refugee camps — and of Pakistanis parroting the Taliban's lies against her. But "He Named Me Malala" is most moving when it is centered on the young woman herself, using her singular voice to speak for millions who need to be heard.

Twitter: @moviecricket —

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'He Named Me Malala'

A moving portrait of girls'-rights activist Malala Yousafzai, centering on her fight to speak out for others while living a normal life herself.

Where • Broadway Centre Cinemas.

When • Opens Friday, Oct. 9.

Rating • PG-13 for thematic elements involving disturbing images and threats.

Running time • 87 minutes.