Malala: A Girl from Paradise will have it's East Coast Premiere at the New Jersey Film Festival this Saturday, January 25, 2014!

Nigrin: Your documentary film Malala: A Girl from Paradise focuses on 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai both before and after the Taliban sent an assassin bent on taking her life and silencing her voice. Tell us a bit about your film and why you decided to make it.

Abbas: I was working for BBC Urdu Service as a reporter, at the time when Malala was writing diary for BBC Urdu. I was very interested from the very beginning since my colleague brought this idea to BBC Editor. I have been researching and reporting on the region so for me it was not hard to decide to do a feature length film on Malala. I was not surprised but shocked after learning the news that she was attacked. I knew she was already a celebrity in Pakistan due to her constant presence in Pakistani media so it happened as I expected, story of attack on her developed so fast. 

Nigrin:  How long did it take you to complete the film and what has been viewers reaction to it so far?

Abbas: We tried to gather some funds via crowd funding but were not very successful. So I end up getting some loads to finish this project. I got great response from viewers from festivals in many countries. We are glad that we are being screened in New Jersey and various other festivals across U.S.A. We also got official screenings coming up in India, China, Taiwan and various other countries. What made me so happy is that university and school students are very interested in this film.  

Nigrin:  Did you run into any difficulties making this film?

Abbas:  We had many challenges. Financial and security risk was one of the main challenge. It was really hard to travel in the insurgency hit area with crew and logistics. 

Nigrin: Where there any memorable stories in getting the film finished or any other info about your film you can pass on to us?

Abbas: My team was at few places that were hit with blasts after we left there. Also, watching through the footage while editing was really hard for me.  When I went through my footage I was getting nightmares after that. I am trying not to travel back to the same region for a while. 

Here is a link to the official trailer for
Malala: A Girl from Paradise: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Z3EdX1INI

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Sebastian - Vlad Marsavin (Moscow, Russia)
This sweet animated film focuses on Sebastian, an 8-year old boy who lives with his grandmother in an ordinary house in an ordinary, monochrome world. However, when Sebastian gets on his bike to go for a ride, the adventure into his imagination begins. 2013; 18 min.

Malala: A Girl From Paradise - Mohsin Abbas (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)
The youngest-ever nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, and an inspiration to young girls throughout the world, 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai is profiled in this revealing documentary about her life in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, both before and after the Taliban sent an assassin bent on taking her life and silencing her voice.  As an advocate for the millions of children in Pakistan who have little chance to receive or complete their primary education, Malala speaks in this film with the passion and the clarity that have made her such a force for positive social change in the world. In English and Urdu, subtitled. 2013; 60 min.

Saturday, January 25, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University,
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey
$10=General; $9=Students+Seniors; $8=Rutgers Film Co-op Friends
Information: (848) 932-8482; www.njfilmfest.com

Jimmy Johns of New Brunswick will be providing free food prior to this screening!