On Friday 20 September, we hosted a special screening of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Chiwetel spoke to Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots, The Crown) about shooting in Malawi, starring in his own film, and the experience of directing his debut feature.
If you weren’t able to attend the event, or just want to relive it, you can catch up with all the live-tweets below.
Excited for our member screening of #TheBoyWhoHarnessedTheWind tonight! To be followed by a Q&A with director Chiwetel Ejiofor. Follow #DUKBoyWho after the film for our live tweets. pic.twitter.com/gMVLqCqOcS
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Wow, what a powerful film that was - now it’s time for the Q&A with director Chiwetel Ejiofor, moderated by Julian Jarrold. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Chiwetel on what drew him to the project: When I read the book I was so struck by how authentic William Kamkwamba had been in his portrayal of village life. I went out to meet William and develop a relationship with Malawi itself #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Before long I knew I wanted to shoot not just in Malawi, but in the village of Wimbe where the story was set. It didn’t feel like it was hard to persuade anyone to do this- everybody got on board with that need for authenticity. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Julian points that its a very beautiful film as well. Chiwetel says he’d just seen Mr. Turner and had been inspired by Dick Pope’s work on the film, and the way he worked with landscape. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Julian asks Chiwetel if there’s a kind of benefit to directing scenes that you yourself are performing in. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Chiwetel: I know how to change the energy of a scene from within it - it was helpful to just play through scenes and watch them come alive in different ways. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
#DUKBoyWho pic.twitter.com/76ZsUn1ut4
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Chiwetel: Maxwell Simba (who plays William) had such great emotional intelligence, he was well able to adapt and work with those changes within scenes. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Alexa Fogel is a great casting director, and she sent through Maxwell’s audition tape - he had such confidence, he could do stuff it took me years to learn. I flew to Kenya to run scenes with him. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
We did a lot of sessions on Skype for months before the shoot, incorporating more actors as they were cast. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Julian asks about showing the film to the real William Kamkwamba. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Chiwetel: It was a complex experience for him to watch the film. He was really positive about it- but the first time he watched it he was quite shocked in a way neither of us expected. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Julian hands it over to the audience for questions. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Julian hands it over to the audience for questions. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
A member asks whether Chiwetel found it daunting to direct his debut. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Chiwetel: Yes! But like anything in film you just try to deal with one problem at a time, and it certainly helps to have people around you who are great at dealing with obstacles too. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
#DUKBoyWho pic.twitter.com/ZE2cnBMijP
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
A member asks about whether Chiwetel felt much pressure to make the film a financial success. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Chiwetel: I felt that the story would have a wide appeal, though of course there were elements - such as the language and tougher themes - that could hinder it commercially. But with Netflix it could reach a wider audience. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Netflix bought the film after we made it, the potential audience it could reach seemed incredible to me. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
An audience member thanks Chiwetel for portraying village life in Malawi so authentically, and asks about working across a language barrier. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
Chiwetel: The trick was to have people around me who were as hard on my Chichewa as possible. They’d let me know if I was enunciating like I was from North Malawi. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
All 60-70 people involved in making the film stayed in the same hotel, which was really helpful for rehearsals and working out scenes. #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
And that’s a wrap! Thanks so much to Chiwetel and Julian for a fantastic Q&A. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is available to watch on Netflix now! What are you waiting for? #DUKBoyWho
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) September 20, 2019
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