The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

Chiwetel Ejiofor (2019, U.K./ Malawi, 113 min.)

What would you risk to be given the chance to go to school? Your family? Your friends? For many in the U.S. we do not have to consider these alternatives. But for William Kamkwamba, access to education has never been a given. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is based on his true story. Born in an agricultural village in Malawi, William tinkers with electronics. Soon after beginning school, a drought overcomes his village, which plunges into violence and starvation. School is a privilege his family can no longer afford to give William or his sister. But William believes his engineering education could be the key to solving the famine, if only he can overcome his father’s resistance to letting youths take the lead in community decision-making.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind marks Academy Award nominee (12 Years a Slave) Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut and raises important issues about the interconnections between access to education, poverty, hunger, clean energy, and climate change. In communities across the globe, too often the choice has been between school and survival. Even in the United States, the poorest households are four times more likely to have children out of school than wealthier families. And yet, education, most critically for women and girls, is one of the most important sustainable development and climate solutions (the Drawdown Project to solve climate change ranks it as the sixth most impactful action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions). Thanks to the 150 of you who joined us for this emotionally powerful film!