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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...

His portrayal of Lola, the drag queen in Kinky Boots, put Chiwetel Ejiofor on the map, then his astonishing performance in 12 Years A Slave made him a household name. Roles in The Martian, Doctor Strange, and the under-appreciated Z for Zachariah followed. Now he has written, directed and stars in The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, which is in select theaters and on Netflix. He talks about the art of wearing many hats, directing the extremely gifted young Maxwell Simba in his first film role, and the effort he took to not shortchange his own character. Back To One […]...

His portrayal of Lola, the drag queen in Kinky Boots, put Chiwetel Ejiofor on the map, then his astonishing performance in 12 Years A Slave made him a household name. Roles in The Martian, Doctor Strange, and the under-appreciated Z for Zachariah followed. Now he has written, directed and stars in The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, which is in select theaters and on Netflix. He talks about the art of wearing many hats, directing the extremely gifted young Maxwell Simba in his first film role, and the effort he took to not shortchange his own character. Back To One […]...

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...

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...

Every few weeks, a “feel good” story will get scooped up by news outlets, usually in an effort to combat the notion that the “Nightly News’ is full of “downer” depressing tales of despair. Such was the case of the young man at the center of this new film, as his story almost exploded a dozen or so years ago (he was eventually interviewed by Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show”). Many who heard him, may have thought “Hey, this should be a movie!’, and some who could make that happen shared the idea. Unfortunately, many movies “inspired by true events” will “movie-fy” true tales, smoothing out the “rough edges”, cleaning it up for general audience consumption, perhaps making it indistinguishable from regular TV fare, making it a “spruced-up” Lifetime or Hallmark uplifting flick of the week. Though this film is premiering on a streaming service, it was the passion...

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...

Though he’s played antic roles such as Lola in “Kinky Boots,” master actor Chiwetel Ejiofor’s most conspicuous characteristic is his air of soulful gravitas. That’s a quality that aims to dominate his feature directorial debut as well. But “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” which dramatizes Malawian engineer William Kakwamba’s youthful struggle to save his starving village via technical ingenuity, carries its seriousness like a virtuous heavy load that gradually drives the film into the ground. Competently mounted yet plodding, it’s manifestly a labor of love that becomes a bit of a labor to watch. Netflix plans a streaming launch as well as limited theatrical release on March 1.

Adapting the subsequently Dartmouth-graduating Kakwamba’s book of the same name, Ejiofor’s screenplay is set in 2001 Malawi. Things are hard for most in that impoverished southeast African republic, and farmer Trywell (the writer-director) hopes education will...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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.…...

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,...

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,...