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Chiwetel Ejiofor didn’t set out to make “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” his feature film directorial debut. Instead, the decision came about gradually as he started to visualize how the story should look. But directing the film, Ejiofor says, changed how he approaches acting.

“Directing, and moving into that I think changes me as an actor, which I’ve started to notice — that I’m evolving as an actor in a slightly different way,” Ejiofor told TheWrap editor in chief Sharon Waxman following TheWrap’s Awards Screening Series.

“The sort of microscopic nature of looking at this film making all of these choices and really examining a film and breaking a film down and creating the film does inform the way that I look at character and the way that I look at physical production now and the idea of giving an editor choices and, or limiting choices if you want,...

Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, is this year’s British entry for Oscar’s recently renamed Best International Feature Film category. But the same rules apply: the film must be predominantly in a language other than English. In the case of Ejiofor’s film, that language is Chichewa, the local Bantu language of Malawi. It was a language Ejiofor didn’t speak and had to learn when he decided to take on a role in the film.

The true story follows William Kamkwamba (Maxwell Simba), a young schoolboy in Kasungu, Malawi, whose family struggles to pay for his schooling when a drought leads to a devastating famine and they are unable to farm the land. It’s his enterprising thirst for science—and a desire to teach himself even when he is refused a place at school—that leads him to design a windmill...

The Critics Choice Association announced today that it will celebrate more than 100 years of black cinema and honor the achievements of 2019 at the Celebration of Black Cinema on Monday, December 2 at the new Landmark Annex (part of The Landmark theatre complex) in Los Angeles. The event will honor four individuals for their outstanding achievements in film this year.

Eddie Murphy will receive the Career Achievement Award as a tribute to his extraordinary roles over the years. Recognized most recently for his brilliant portrayal of the legendary Rudy Ray Moore in Netflix’s Dolemite Is My Name, Murphy’s performance helps shed light on an era when black artists were pioneering new-found ways to reach black audiences and tell their own stories. He has continued to impress critics and audiences alike, all while blazing the trail for those who have come after him.

Nia Long will be honored for her performance...

Eddie Murphy will receive the Career Achievement Award, and Nia Long, Chiwetel Ejiofor and director Kasi Lemmons will also be honored December 2 at the Celebration of Black Cinema presented by the Critics Choice Association (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association).

The event at the new Landmark Annex, part of the Landmark Theatre complex in Los Angeles, is designed to toast more than 100 years of black cinema and will be feting four individuals for their outstanding achievements in film in 2019, which is also the 100-year anniversary of The Homesteader from director Oscar Micheaux, credited by many as the first African American to make a feature-length film. He would go on to produce and/or direct another 44 films between 1919-1948.

Former Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Cheryl Boone Isaacs will host the evening, which benefits the UCLA Film & Television Archive and its commitment to the preservation of cinema.

Eddie Murphy is set to receive the Career Achievement Award from the Critics Choice Association as part of a celebration of black cinema, the awards group announced Tuesday.

Nia Long, Kasi Lemmons and Chiwetel Ejiofor will also be honored as part of a ceremony for the Celebration of Black Cinema on Monday, Dec. 2 at the new Landmark Annex as part of the Landmark Theatres complex in Los Angeles.

Murphy is being recognized following his work as blaxploitation film star Rudy Ray Moore in the film “Dolemite Is My Name,” which the Critics Choice Association says helps sheds light on an era when black artists were pioneering new-found ways to reach black audiences and tell their own stories.

Also Read: Eddie Murphy Says Barack Obama Pushed Him to Return to Standup

Long will be honored for her performance as Eunice Garrett in Apple’s “The Banker,” a story about African Americans...

March can be a long month, and that’s especially true for cinephiles. Wedged between the Oscars and the start of the summer movie season (which now begins sometime in April), the tail-end of winter can feel like the deepest of doldrums on the annual movie calendar. Fortunately, Netflix is doing what it can to sustain its subscribers from now until spring.

This month’s new additions to the company’s streaming library offer a little something for everyone, from the soaring acrobatics of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” to the chilled mysteries of Debra Granik’s “Winter’s Bone,” and the heartbreaking drama of Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation.” March’s Netflix Originals include Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut, Lukas Dhont’s controversial “Girl,” and the star-studded beefcake spectacle of “Triple Frontier.” “Music and Lyrics” and “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” join the internet’s deepest stable of 21st century rom-coms,...

It’s always fascinating to watch what an actor chooses to do when they make their directorial debut. For Chiwetel Ejiofor, he chose to adapt and direct a true life tale. Specifically, it’s the story of William Kamkwamba. That name may not be familiar to many, but for Ejiofor, it meant a lot. So, he set out make this his first feature filmmaking project. The end result is a well intentioned and well made drama that doesn’t quite hit the mark. The flick is damn close to be worthy of a recommendation, but it’s ever so slightly missing the bullseye. As of Friday, it’s streaming on Netflix, so it’s available to all right now, for what that’s worth. This film is, as mentioned above, a drama based on the true story of William Kamkwamba. Set in Malawi in 2001, the movie follows the boy William...

Over two decades since he was cast in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad off an audition given while he was attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and only nineteen years old, Chiwetel Ejiofor has worked with several master filmmakers, earned an Oscar nod, and now directed a feature film. Arriving on Netflix today, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind tells the true story of William Kamkwamba, a young boy in Malawi who saved his family and his village by building a wind turbine using bits and parts from a nearby scrapyard.

The Film Stage spoke with Ejiofor about directing and acting simultaneously, how to decide what part of a true story to focus on, and what he hopes to focus on in the future.

The Film Stage: On this one you are acting and directing. That’s a lot, especially given that it’s your feature directorial debut.

Angelina Jolie made a rare appearance with all six of her kids as they attended a movie night in the city. On Monday night, the actress hosted a special screening of the Netflix film The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind in NYC, and she brought along her entire clan for the fun. Angelina and her kids - Maddox, 17, Zahara, 14, Pax, 15, Shiloh, 12, Vivienne, 10, and Knox, 10 - were all smiles as they posed for a few photos together. Angelina also joined the film's director, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and William Kamkwamba, whose memoir the film is based on, for a Q&A during the event.

Angelina and her kids have been enjoying quite a few public appearances together lately. On Feb. 22, the actress was joined by a few of her kids as she attended the opening of the Museum of Modern Art's Doc Fortnight and the premiere of artist Prune Nourry's Serendipity documentary.

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’re highlighting the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Chiwetel Ejiofor)

The phrase “important film” covers all manner of cinematic sins. If a narrative speaks to a specific issue or disenfranchisement, it can make critique a little complicated. Thankfully, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind plays more like entertainment than education while teaching its viewer something all the same. Written and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, adapted from the book by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, the film’s set in Wimbe, a village in the Southeast African country of Malawi. It concerns the life of a family trying their best to survive both extreme weather and a government that will offer no help.

At the Berlin film festival this year we had the pleasure in taking part in the press junket for new Netflix feature film The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the directorial debut of Academy Award winner Chiwetel Ejiofor. We sat down with the man himself, sat alongside the real subject of the movie, the boy who harnessed the wind himself, William Kamkwamba.

We also spoke to the talented youngster Maxwell Simba, who plays the leading role, with lead actress Aissa Maiga. You can watch both of our interviews in the video below:

Synopsis

A 13-year-old boy is thrown out of the school he loves when his family can no longer afford the fees. He sneaks into the library and learns how to build a windmill to save his village from a famine.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is available to watch on Netflix now

The post Exclusive: Chiwetel Ejiofor...

What’s new on Netflix, you ask? How about a too-fast-for-love, no-holds-barred biopic on Motley Crue, actor Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut, Ricky Gervais deciding to tell folks what’s really on his mind (uh-oh) and even more Arrested Development? Or how about the scoop on what’s going on over at Hulu, like Aidy Bryant’s breakthrough sadcom on body positivity? Or maybe Amazon Prime is more your jam, in which case you’ll be happy to hear that a new series based on a 2011 killer-waif movie and a...

A lovely and thoughtful family film, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” is a far cry from Marvel multiplex-ity. But once viewers (of all ages) adjust to its quiet and respectful approach, they ought to be drawn to a superhero of a different sort — and one who may feel more familiar than any costumed crusader.

Several years ago, actor Chiwetel Ejiofor optioned the rights to William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer’s bestselling nonfiction book of the same name. You’d never guess that this strikingly confident adaptation is also his directorial debut.

What’s more, Ejiofor seems to have made things as challenging as possible: He directs a screenplay he wrote himself, and in an impressive, and effective, commitment to authenticity, he decided to film on location in Malawi with a mix of English and subtitled Chichewa (which he then had to learn).

Also Read: Chiwetel Ejiofor's Directorial Debut '...

The phrase “important film” covers all manner of cinematic sins. If a narrative speaks to a specific issue or disenfranchisement, it can make critique a little complicated. Thankfully, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind plays more like entertainment than education while teaching its viewer something all the same. Written and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, adapted from the book by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, the film’s set in Wimbe, a village in the Southeast African country of Malawi. It concerns the life of a family trying their best to survive both extreme weather and a government that will offer no help.

Young William (Maxwell Simba) has been enrolled in school, his parents (Ejiofor, Aïssa Maïga) determined that their children grow up to be something more than farmers. Sadly, as heavy rains flood nearby crops only to be followed by an endless drought, the tuition cannot be paid. Still, William...

The gang's all here for a movie night! Such was the case for Angelina Jolie and her famous family on Monday night. Of course, it wasn't just any ordinary movie night for the star and her youngsters. The actress moderated a special screening of the Netflix film, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, at the Crosby Street Hotel in New York City. The movie is Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor's feature directorial debut and stars him as well as Maxwell Simba, Aïssa Maïga, Lily Banda, Lemogang Tsipa, Philbert Falakeza, Joseph Marcell and Noma Dumezweni.  Ejiofor sat down with Jolie for a Q&A during the event, as did William Kamkwamba, whose memoir the film is based...

By March 1, the Oscars will be over, and we can finally stop pulling our hair over the fact that Rami Malek’s dentures beat out Ethan Hawke’s bottle of drain cleaner. When that day comes, Netflix will be able to offer an eclectic mix of reliably quality fare to cleanse our palates of what will surely go down in history as one of the oddest Oscar seasons ever. The streaming giant could also very well have earned its first Best Picture statue by then, but its users won’t be able to hear the champagne bottles popping over the hum of their preferred watching device.

Damien Chazelle’s finely crafted Neil Armstrong biopic “First Man” may have been snubbed in almost every major category, but audiences looking to revisit the original space tearjerker can countdown with “Apollo 13,” which hits Netflix at the beginning of the month. ’90s babies...

Chiwetel Ejiofor directs and stars in the inspiring real-life story of a teenager who brings electricity to his village in Malawi

Chiwetel Ejiofor has made his debut as writer-director, and the result is exhilarating and rather inspiring – a story of success against the odds, of ingenuity and resourcefulness, of a father and son painfully coming to terms with each other. Ejiofor brings a real sensitivity and empathy to this material, as well as some bold, fluent storytelling.

He has adapted a 2013 memoir by the Malawian engineer William Kamkwamba, which told the remarkable story of how as a teenager he provided electricity for his village by designing and building a wind turbine, hooked up to a simple bike-type dynamo. Ejiofor has exercised a little creative licence here and upped the narrative stakes, by making this turbine vital for pumping otherwise inaccessible well water for the drought-stricken village’s crops, and in...

With more than 20 years of stage and screen experience — including a notable early role in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad in 1997 and an Oscar nomination for Steve McQueen’s 2013 drama 12 Years a Slave — Chiwetel Ejiofor has joined a growing number of high-profile actors flexing their creative muscles behind the camera.

In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the 41-year-old Brit marks his directorial debut with the story of William Kamkwamba, who rose to fame as a teenager in rural Malawi when, having been forced to drop out of school, he constructed a makeshift wind turbine, helping his family ...

With more than 20 years of stage and screen experience — including a notable early role in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad in 1997 and an Oscar nomination for Steve McQueen’s 2013 drama 12 Years a Slave — Chiwetel Ejiofor has joined a growing number of high-profile actors flexing their creative muscles behind the camera.

In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the 41-year-old Brit marks his directorial debut with the story of William Kamkwamba, who rose to fame as a teenager in rural Malawi when, having been forced to drop out of school, he constructed a makeshift wind turbine, helping his family ...

Like so many actors before him, what Chiwetel Ejiofor really wants to do is direct. Now, with Sundance entry “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” the Oscar-nominated “12 Years a Slave” star has done just that. As part of the film’s unveiling in Park City, Ejiofor stopped by the IndieWire Studio, presented by Dropbox, to discuss the ways in which diversity has expanded the conversation in Hollywood and beyond.

“I think it’s a very exciting time for diversity in cinema. Of course, all these different perspectives from very powerful media industries and these different points of view actually affect the nature and the psychology of the societies that we’re all in, and that’s been part of the problem — that when things are related from only one point of view, that it kind of shuts down the conversation across the board in a cultural context,” he said.

The actor’s first film behind the camera is a stirring adaptation of a William Kamkwamba memoir telling an astonishing story of triumph in Malawi

Last year, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Netflix headed to Sundance with Come Sunday, a dramatisation of the life of “heretic” pastor Carlton Pearson that, despite the provocative source material, fizzled out before making a soft landing online months later. Actor and platform have reassembled for a second attempt to woo Utah crowds with a BFI-backed project close to the Oscar nominee’s heart – so close, in fact, that the 12 Years a Slave star picked it as his directorial debut.

Related: Hollywood A-listers and controversial documentaries head to Sundance...

Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor originally planned to stay behind the camera in his solid but somewhat uninvolving directorial debut, but it’s easy to understand why felt he compelled to star: Trywell Kamkwamba is one of the more fascinating characters he’s ever played.

An uneducated Malawian farmer who strives to provide schooling for his children, Trywell is too dignified to sell the family’s ancestral land to the tobacco business, and too savvy to think he can redeem his future by surrendering his past. He’s an honest man in a village that’s being choked to death by corruption, and — as a national food crisis takes hold — Trywell grows too desperate to see that his young son William (Maxwell Simba) might be the only one who can save the farm and ensure its harvest. Caught in a vulnerable position between tradition and aspiration, he’s the heart and...

"It can work, if you help me." Netflix has unveiled the official trailer for The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, the feature directorial debut of Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. Based on the true story, the film is about a young boy in Malawi who helps his village by building a wind turbine with spare parts after reading about them in a book. Maxwell Simba stars as William Kamkwamba, and the cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Noma Dumezweni, Joseph Marcell, Aïssa Maïga, Lemogang Tsipa, and Lily Banda. This is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival this month, and will debut on Netflix in March, so not much long of a wait if you're interested in it. This looks like a wonderfully inspiring, uplifting story of determination and ingenuity. And I really want to see if Ejiofor is as talented of a director as he is an actor. Here's the trailer (+ poster) for...

Judging from the first trailer alone, I hope Chiwetel Ejiofor's directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is as well-received and talked about as other recent Netflix original features have proven to be. The difference here is that this film goes well beyond popcorn entertainment and actually has something to say while also offering an inspiring tale based on a true life story. Ejiofor adapted William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer's book by the same name for the film, which tells of a thirteen year old Malawi boy, based on Kamkwamba, who finds an unconventional way to …...

This year’s Sundance Film Festival continues the organization’s mission of supporting diverse voices. Among the 112 feature-length films, representing 33 countries, there is much to appreciate about that goal: the U.S. Dramatic Competition features a director makeup that’s 41% people of color, and 22% in the U.S. Documentary Competition. Meanwhile, among the 61 directors in all four competition categories, comprising 56 films, 39% are people of color. According to the festival, these films were selected from a record high of 14,259 submissions, including 4,018 feature-length films. Of the feature film submissions, 38% were directed by one or more filmmaker of color, with the stories each tells just as diverse.

By comparison, per a Sundance Institute report released today, produced in partnership with the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, during 2017 and 2018, 24.3% of U.S. dramatic features accepted to the festival had a director of color.

Additionally, the study reveals that, while data from 2017 to 2018 indicates that there...

Exclusive: Just as his feature directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind makes its Sundance Film Festival debut tonight, Chiwetel Ejiofor has been set by Los Angeles Media Fund to adapt and direct The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League, based on the bestselling book by Jeff Hobbs. Antoine Fuqua and Rebecca Hobbs are producing, along with Andrea Calderwood and Kat Samick. Jeffrey Soros and Simon Horsman will produce on behalf of Los Angeles Media Fund, which will fully finance the project.

Growing up outside of Newark, NJ, Robert Peace dreamed of making his single mother proud by escaping his crime-ridden city. He defied the odds and went to Yale on a full scholarship. He was captain of the water polo team and graduated with honors in molecular biochemistry and biophysics. All this promise and potential was...

The debut director talks about shooting in Malawi.

On the eve of the Sundance world premiere of his directing debut, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, Chiwetel Ejiofor reveals why he believes Netflix is the ideal platform for the film.

“When I started making [The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind], it was hard to imagine how we would get the kind of reach that we can have with something like Netflix,” he enthuses. “This is part of the difficulty around independent cinema at this point - if you’re not going to release the film on 3,000 screens in the Us,...

Netflix might be known for its slew of popular true crime hits, but thanks to Chiwetel Ejiofor, the next true story to hit the streaming giant is an emotional, uplifting tale about a young boy from Malawi.

The Doctor Strange actor makes his directorial debut with The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, which has been adapted from the book of the same name. Ejiofor also stars in the film alongside newcomer Maxwell Simba, who plays William Kamkwamba, a 13-year-old boy who saves his home in an incredible, and incredibly unconventional, way: by building an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap he found in his village in Malawi. When a drought sets in on his village and famine threatens to take the lives of those he holds dear, the young inventor creates the windmill using only rough plans he finds in a library book, Using Energy.

In real life, Kamkwamba's...

Netflix has launched the first trailer for Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut ‘The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind’.

Written and directed by Ejiofor, the film is based on the remarkable true story of William Kamkwamba, A boy with a curious mind who finds a way to save his Malawian village from famine.

The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maxwell Simba, Lily Banda, Noma Dumezweni, Edith Sikelo, Aissa Maiga, Joseph Marcell and Lemogang Tsipa.

Also in trailers – Jessie Buckley has country music in her bones in trailer for ‘Wild Rose’

The film premieres on Netflix March 1st. Here’s the trailer,

The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind Synopsis

Adapted from the bestselling book by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind follows 13-year-old William Kamkwamba (newcomer Maxwell Simba) who is thrown out of the school he loves when his family can no longer afford the fees.

Sneaking back into the school library,...

“It’s not a dream, Papa,” insists young William Kamkwamba, played by newcomer Maxwell Simba in this new trailer for Netflix’s The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. “I’m not dreaming.”

And indeed he isn’t – and wasn’t. Based on a true story, the film, directed by and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, chronicles the very real hopes and efforts of a 13-year-old William in Malawi as he develops a method – the wind of the title – to bring water to his famine-struck village.

Based on the book of the same title written by Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind marks Ejiofor’s directorial debut (he also wrote the adaptation of the book).

In addition to Ejiofor and Simba, the film features Aïssa Maïga and Lily Banda. Producers are Andrea Calderwood and Gail Egan.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind debuts March 1 on Netflix and in select theaters.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, a BAFTA-winning actor who also earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination in 2012 for Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave,” is stepping into the director’s chair. For his debut, Ejiofor has chosen “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” a moving tale based on the true story of William Kamkwamba, a young Malawian innovator and engineer who rose to fame in 2007 for building a wind turbine to bring electricity to his family farm during a drought. Ejiofor also stars, delivering the powerhouse performances he does best in the newly released trailer. He stars opposite newcomer Maxwell Simba, as well as Aïssa Maïga and Lily Banda.

The Sundance synopsis reads:

“Young William Kamkwamba (Simba) lives with his family in rural Malawi, where he attends school regularly and shows great aptitude for his studies. Yet after land development and poor weather lead to a meager harvest, famine strikes the village,...

Netflix has released the first trailer for Chiwetel Ejiofor's directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

The film follows 13-year-old William (Maxwell Simba) as he develops an unconventional method to bring water to his famine-struck village in Malawi. The plot is a true story based on the William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer book of the same name.

Ejiofor, Aissa Maiga and Lily Banda round out the cast.

The trailer opens with an introduction to the village and the school that William attends.

"It's down to each one of you to decide your own level of commitment,"...

Netflix has released the first trailer for Chiwetel Ejiofor's directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

The film follows 13-year-old William (Maxwell Simba) as he develops an unconventional method to bring water to his famine-struck village in Malawi. The plot is a true story based on the William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer book of the same name.

Ejiofor, Aissa Maiga and Lily Banda round out the cast.

The trailer opens with an introduction to the village and the school that William attends.

"It's down to each one of you to decide your own level of commitment,"...

When actor Chiwetel Ejiofor optioned the rights for the 2009 best-seller “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” penning the screenplay for a feature directorial debut that world-premieres in Sundance and then appears in the Berlin Film Festival before being released globally by Netflix this spring, colleagues floated the idea of shooting the Malawi-set film in tried-and-tested locations like South Africa or Kenya.

Ejiofor demurred. “It just didn’t seem plausible to me,” says the director, who was captivated by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer’s story about a 13-year-old boy who builds a windmill to save his village from famine. “There was no way that we could shoot the film anywhere else. For me, it was really a question of diving in feet first and just seeing what happens.”

Potboiler Prods.’ Andrea Calderwood had worked on 2013’s “Half of a Yellow Sun,” the adaptation of Chima-manda Ngozi Adichie’s critically acclaimed...

Following the biggest fourth-quarter worldwide subscriber gain ever and some controversy around increased prices in the U.S., Netflix looks to keep its momentum going into 2019.

From Jan. 18 through March, the streaming site will release 10 original films, including action-packed thrillers, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi, quirky comedies, inspirational dramas, an artistic horror movie and a viral documentary.

Subscribers can watch the action flick “Close,” documentary “Fyre” and sci-fi movie “Io,” while “Polar” with Mads Mikkelsen drops next week. February kicks off with the horrific “Velvet Buzzsaw” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and Steven Soderbergh and Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “High Flying Bird” comes a week later. Comedies “The Breaker Upperers” and “Paddleton” round out the month. Finally, March brings two films based on true stories, “The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind” and “The Dirt.”

Close (Jan. 18)

Noomi Rapace stars as a counter-terrorist expert in this action thriller inspired by the real life of one...

HeyUGuys will have its Sundance team back in the Mountains next week as Nathan McVay and Ty Cooper travel to Utah to discover the year’s best Independent films. The 2019 lineup is a little different to years past, but still has a deep crop of big names, films and choices.

Each year after the slate is announced McVay and Cooper e-mail back and forth discussing the lineup and what movies excite, surprise or confuse them. Here are some highlights of their e-mail exchange for a very unconventional preview of this year’s Sundance.

Nathan:

Thursday, Dec 6, 15:24 Cst

Well it’s incredibly cold outside, I am always freezing, and I have no more money left because I have spent it all on Christmas presents. You know what that means?

Yup! It’s Sundance Lineup season! While I can never be disappointed by a Sundance lineup, this year definitely took me by surprise.

Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directing debut The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind will kick off the New York International Children’s Film Festival. The 22nd annual fest runs from February 22nd through March 17 and will feature live action, documentary, Vr, and experimental shorts from over 30 countries.

Based on William Kamkwamba’s memoir, the narrative centers on a determined [...]

The post Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Directing Debut Kicks Off New York International Film Festival appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind has won the Alfred P Sloan prize Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival Chiwetel Ejiofor's directorial feature debut The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind has been named as the winner of the 2019 Alfred P Sloan Feature Film prize - given to a film that features science or technology as a theme, or depicts a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character.

Ejiofor also stars in the film - which will be the Festival's opening night film in Salt Lake City - that tells the true story of William Kamkwamba, who as a 13-year-old boy in Malawi, invented an unconventional way to save his family and village from famine.

The festival also announced two additions to its Midnight strand - Wounds directed by Under The Shadow filmmaker Babak Anvari and starring Armie Hammer and Dakota Johnson; and Patrick Brice's Corporate Animals, which...

With a recent Netflix pick-up, the distrib will have to figure out if it’ll throw Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind into the awardage discussion or … allow it to bow earlier than anticipated. Then again, Sundance have welcomed the actor on several occasions — most recently Joshua Marston’s Come Sunday. Teaming with cinematographer Dick Pope, Chiwetel Ejiofor started lensing began in late 2017. Worth noting: the true story was the subject of docu William and the Windmill.

Gist: Adapted from the book written by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, Malawi-shot story story follows 13-year-old William Kamkwamba (Maxwell Simba) who is thrown out of the school he loves when his family can no longer afford the fees.…...

Chiwetel Ejiofor is making his directorial debut and Netflix has just agreed to distribute the film.

Netflix announced that the streaming service will distribute Ejiofor’s upcoming film “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” which is based on the memoir of the same name by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. Adapted by Ejiofor, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” tells the story of a young boy.

Continue reading Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Directorial Debut ‘The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind’ Coming To Netflix In 2019 at The Playlist.

Netflix is already looking ahead to its 2019 awards slate by picking up Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Ejiofor penned the script passed on the book by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer about a 13-year-old Kamkwamba who, after being thrown out of school when his family could no longer afford the fees, still found a way to build a windmill that saved his Malawian village from famine. That sounds like an incredible story, and I’m eager to see what Ejiofor does behind the camera. He’s already shown he’s one …...

Netflix has picked up Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the story of a real-life Malawian boy named William Kamkwamba who built a windmill that helped save his village from famine.

The streamer acquired global rights to the film excluding Japan, China and U.K. free TV rights, and plans to launch the film worldwide next year — including in select theaters in the U.S. and U.K.

Ejiofor, the Oscar-nominated star of 12 Years a Slave, also co-stars and wrote the script, adapted from the best-selling book of the same name by Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.

The film follows 13-year-old William Kamkwamba (newcomer Maxwell Simba) who is thrown out of the school he loves when his family can no longer afford the fees. Sneaking back into the school library, he...

Netflix has picked up global rights (excluding Japan, China and UK free TV rights) to Chiwetel Ejiofor’s (12 Year’s A Slave) directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind.

Ejiofor scripted the British film, which is based on the book of the same name by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. Maxwell Simba stars with Ejiofor in the Malawi-shot story about a boy who can’t afford to go to school but dreams of building a windmill to save his village from famine.

Potboiler’s Andrea Calderwood and Gail Egan produce; executive producers including Joe Oppenheimer, Rose Garnett, Natascha Wharton, Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Peter Hampden and Norman Merry.

The film will launch in 2019 on Netflix and in select cinemas in the U.S. and UK. Backing came from BFI and BBC Films with Head Gear, Metrol Technology and LipSync, in partnership with Participant Media. Cornerstone was the international sales agent.

Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” has landed at Netflix. The streaming giant has the British star’s film globally with the exception of China, where it does not have a service, Japan, and the U.K., where the free-tv rights are with the BBC.

Based on the bestselling book by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, the film follows 13-year-old boy William, played by newcomer Maxwell Simba, who finds a way to save his village in Malawi from famine. The true story was the subject of a documentary that played at SXSW in 2013, “William and the Windmill.”

Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”) wrote the screenplay and plays William’s father in the movie, which was shot in Malawi. “A global story such as this requires a global platform, and I’m thrilled to be working with Netflix on bringing William’s extraordinary tale of determination and inventiveness to audiences worldwide,...

Ejiofor’s directorial debut is set in Malawi.

Netflix has picked up global rights, excluding China, Japan, and UK free-tv, to Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind.

The Malawi-set film stars Maxwell Simba as a 13 year-old boy who can’t afford to go to school but dreams of building a windmill to save his village from famine. Ejiofor plays his father and also adapted the screenplay, which is based on the book of the same name by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.

The film is produced by Andrea Calderwood and Gail Egan of the UK’s Potboiler Productions,...

Netflix has acquired global rights — with the exception of Japan, China and U.K. free TV rights — to The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the directorial debut of Oscar nominee and BAFTA winner Chiwetel Ejiofor.

It plans to launch the film on its streaming platform and select U.S. and U.K. cinemas in 2019.

The film — which was first announced by The Hollywood Reporter and shot in Malawi last year — is based on the best-selling book of the same name by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, and follows 13-year-old Kamkwamba (played by newcomer Maxwell Samba) who ...

Netflix has acquired global rights — with the exception of Japan, China and U.K. free TV rights — to The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the directorial debut of Oscar nominee and BAFTA winner Chiwetel Ejiofor.

It plans to launch the film on its streaming platform and select U.S. and U.K. cinemas in 2019.

The film — which was first announced by The Hollywood Reporter and shot in Malawi last year — is based on the best-selling book of the same name by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, and follows 13-year-old Kamkwamba (played by newcomer Maxwell Samba) who ...

Ejiofor also stars alongside Maxwell Simba.

Screen can unveil this exclusive first look at Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

Maxwell Simba stars as William Kamkwamba with Chiwetel Ejiofor as his father Trywell in the film directed and written by Ejiofor based on the book of the same title.

The Malawi-shot story is about a boy who can’t afford to go to school but dreams of building a windmill to save his village from famine.

Potboiler’s Andrea Calderwood and Gail Egan produce, with executive producers Participant’s Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King, BBC Films’ Joe Oppenheimer, the BFI’s Natascha Wharton, Head Gear Films’ Phil Hunt and Compton Ross, and the book’s authors William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. Head Gear Films and Metrol Technology are financing.

Cornerstone handles international sales and is showing footage in Berlin. Participant is handling North America.

Econet will handle Sub-Saharan African distribution.

The BFI awarded seven films £1m or more in 2017.

The BFI awarded seven movies £1m or more in 2017 with satirist Chris Morris’ anticipated follow up to controversial 2010 comedy Four Lions the recipient of this year’s biggest grant.

Since launching the BFI Film Fund seven years ago, the organisation’s biggest single production grant remains the £2m awarded to Aardman and Studiocanal’s animation Early Man in 2015. That film is due for release in 2018.

1. Untitled Chris Morris Project, See-Saw Productions Limited (£1.5m)

Source: Creative Commons

Anna Kendrick

Satirist Morris’s anticipated first film since controversial 2010 comedy Four Lions has been kept largely under wraps after shooting last year in the Us and the Caribbean. Cast is understood to include Anna Kendrick, Kayvan Novak, James Adomian and Orange is the New Black’s Danielle Brooks. Film4 backed the project which is produced by See-Saw Films and Archer Gray Productions

2. Country Music, Fable Pictures Ltd (1.4m...

The BFI awarded seven films £1m or more in 2017.

The BFI awarded seven movies £1m or more in 2017 with satirist Chris Morris’ anticipated follow up to controversial 2010 comedy Four Lions the recipient of this year’s biggest grant.

Since launching the BFI Film Fund seven years ago, the organisation’s biggest single production grant remains the £2m awarded to Aardman and Studiocanal’s animation Early Man in 2015. That film is due for release in 2018.

1. Untitled Chris Morris Project, See-Saw Productions Limited (£1.5m)

Source: Creative Commons

Anna Kendrick

Satirist Morris’s anticipated first film since controversial 2010 comedy Four Lions has been kept largely under wraps after shooting last year in the Us and the Caribbean. Cast is understood to include Anna Kendrick, Kayvan Novak, James Adomian and Orange is the New Black’s Danielle Brooks. Film4 backed the project which is produced by See-Saw Films and Archer Gray Productions

2. Country Music,...