Chiwetel Ejiofor is going behind the camera for the first time to direct The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind for Netflix.
Deadline reports the Doctor Strange star has not only made his directorial debut with the film, but he also wrote the script, based on a bestselling book of the same name by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.
It tells the true story of William, a 13-year-old boy in Malawi who can’t afford to go to school but dreams of building a windmill to save his village from famine.
William has already been the subject of a film once, a documentary called William and the Windmill that won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature at the South By Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas in 2013.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a dramatic retelling of his story, with newcomer Maxwell Simba in the lead role, while multi-tasking Chiwetel plays his father Trywell Kamkwamba.
“A global story such as this requires a global platform,” Chiwetel said, “and I’m thrilled to be working with Netflix on bringing William’s extraordinary tale of determination and inventiveness to audiences worldwide.”
Also starring are Joseph Marcell (The Fresh Prince of Bel Air), Aïssa Maïga (Taken Down) and Chiwetel’s Dirty Pretty Things co-star Noma Dumezweni.
The film has already been shot on location, and will launch on Netflix in 2019.
Are you impressed by this new string to Chiwetel’s bow?
