'He Named Me Malala' documentary to hit select theatres on Oct 2

Fox Searchlight has announced that it will open Davis Guggenheim's documentary 'He Named Me Malala' on October 2 in select theaters.

As per a statement from Fox Searchlight Pictures presidents Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula, Fox's specialty arm acquired worldwide rights minus France and other French-speaking territories to the film, which will be distributed by Studiocanal in France, the Deadline reported.

The project, which is Produced by Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald and co-financed by Participant Media, is described as an intimate portrait of Malala Yousafzai, who was wounded when Taliban gunmen opened fire on her and her friends' school bus in Pakistan's Swat Valley.

The then-15-year-old, who had been targeted for speaking out on behalf of girls' education in her region, was shot in the head, sparking international media outrage.

An educational activist in Pakistan, Yousafzai has since emerged as a leading campaigner for the rights of children worldwide and in December 2014 became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Executive producers include Mohamed Al Mubarak and Michael Garin from Image Nation Abu Dhabi and Jeff Skoll for Participant.