Chiwetel Ejiofor: Streaming, diversity drive African stories like Boy Who Harnessed Wind
BERLIN British-Nigerian actor Chiwetel Ejiofor said the rise of streaming platforms and a growing appetite for new voices in movies have opened the door for "epic" African stories to reach a global audience.
The 41-year-old presented his directorial debut at last month's Berlin International Film Festival. The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, which is available on Netflix, is an adaptation of the 2009 international bestseller of the same name.
It tells the true story of a 13-year-old - author William Kamkwamba - whose windmill invention saved his Malawian village from famine in 2001.
Ejiofor, who was born in London to a family from Nigeria, said the film came together during a watershed moment for new racial and gender perspectives in the industry that were next to impossible just a few years ago.
He said Netflix had jumped into the gulf left by major studios backing away from independent films in favour of global juggernauts, calling it "a really exciting change".
He said that trend had dovetailed with a realisation that people in parts of the world long off Hollywood's map had "incredibly big lives".
Ejiofor, who plays William's father, filmed the movie on location in Malawi, in East Africa, giving it more authenticity. - AFP
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