Malala Yousafzai debuts as film producer with documentary ‘Last of the Sea Women’

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has launched her career as a film producer with the release of the trailer for Last of the Sea Women, a documentary that spotlights Korea's legendary haenyeo divers.

Directed by Sue Kim and produced by Yousafzai under her banner Extracurricular Productions, the film will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September before its official release on Apple TV+ on 11 October.

Produced by Sue Kim, Erika Kennair, and Yousafzai, the film is also backed by executive producers Nicole Stott, Emily Osborne, Harry Go, and Marissa Torres Ericson.

The Last of the Sea Women reflects Yousafzai's growing influence in Hollywood, marking her first official foray into film production.

The activist, who became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize recipient at 17, is increasingly engaging in storytelling through film and television, having already lent her name to projects like Stranger at the Gate, which was shortlisted for an Oscar.

The documentary, Last of the Sea Women, produced in collaboration with A24 and Apple Original Films, follows the haenyeo – an extraordinary group of elderly female divers from South Korea’s Jeju Island, renowned for diving to the ocean floor without oxygen tanks to harvest seafood.

Now in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, these divers face increasing dangers from environmental threats and a changing world. The film captures their spirited battle to preserve their way of life, which is at risk of disappearing.

"Haenyeo are guardians of the sea and we have protected the ocean for hundreds of years," says one of the divers in the trailer.

The women, often referred to as “real-life mermaids,” continue to work in hazardous conditions despite their advanced age, with the younger generation stepping in to revive the tradition using social media and global outreach.

In addition to her work in film, Yousafzai has also made an acting appearance in the second season of We Are Lady Parts for Peacock in the U.S. and Channel Four in the UK.