The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)
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A young boy in a drought-stricken village seeks to save his community by building a windmill from salvaged parts.
The story
Born in Kasungu, Malawi, William Kamkwamba is a young schoolboy from a family of farmers who has a talent for fixing radios and scavenging for electronic components. When he is banned from attending school because his parents cannot pay the tuition fees, William blackmails his science teacher into allowing him to continue attending classes and access the library. There, he learns about electrical engineering and energy production. By the mid-2000s, a severe drought and famine devastate his village, leading to riots and economic hardship. William begins seeking ways to help his community survive the environmental crisis.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
William Kamkwamba, a schoolboy in Malawi, is forced to leave school due to poverty but continues to study in the library after blackmailing his teacher. As a devastating drought and famine strike the village of Wimbe, William's family loses their grain stores and faces extreme hardship. William devises a plan to build a windmill to power a water pump. He creates a small prototype, but his father, Trywell, is skeptical and destroys it, viewing the project as futile. After the family dog, Khamba, dies of starvation, William's mother convinces his father to reconsider. The father and son reconcile, and with the help of friends and components salvaged from a bicycle, they build a full-size windmill. This successful invention allows the village to sow a successful crop, saving the community from the famine.
- First release year
- 2019
- Runtime (minutes)
- 113
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; Malawi
- Original languages
- English; Chichewa
- Directors
- Chiwetel Ejiofor
- Writers
- Chiwetel Ejiofor · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Maxwell Simba; Chiwetel Ejiofor; Lily Banda
- Genres
- drama; biographical drama
- Themes
- resilience; innovation; poverty; environmental crisis
- Tone and mood
- uplifting; dramatic
- Setting
- Malawi in the mid-2000s
- Premise and plot tags
- biographical; drama; based on true events; educational
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
- Reception
- The film received widely positive reviews, with praise for Chiwetel Ejiofor's direction and acting. It was noted for its uplifting arc and strong performances.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 68 · scale: 100 · review count: 18
- Awards and nominations
- Best International Feature Film · British entry · 92nd Academy Awards · not nominated
- Production trivia
- The film was adapted into a stage musical by the Royal Shakespeare Company.; The film was selected as the British entry for the 92nd Academy Awards.; The film was screened in the Premieres section at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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