BAFTA AWARD WINNER AND ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE CHIWETEL EJIOFOR STARTS PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY ON DIRECTORIAL DEBUT

Film Starring, Directed and Written by Ejiofor Based on Book, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”

London, 19 October 2017 – Media, BBC Films and BFI announced today that physical production on the untitled directorial debut of Academy Award®-nominated and BAFTA Award- winning actor Chiwetel Ejiofor has begun in . Ejiofor will star in the project he also adapted from the book “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” written by and Bryan Mealer.

Potboiler Productions’ Andrea Calderwood (The Last King of Scotland) and Gail Egan (A Most Wanted Man) are producing the film. Participant’s Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King will executive produce with BBC Films’ Joe Oppenheimer, the BFI’s Natascha Wharton and authors Kamkwamba and Mealer.

Chiwetel Ejiofor said: "William's story represents what has to be the future in countries like Malawi: developing countries, overflowing with beauty, and with potential which simply needs access to opportunity in order to be fully unleashed. William's determination and inventiveness created something that not only meant the end of the "hungry season" for his community, it also catapulted him into a future where all his potential could be realised.

"I want this to be a film that allows people to see that Malawi, and the world, will be all the better for everything William and those like him are able to contribute when they have the opportunities they urgently need to carve out their own extraordinary destinies."

Participant Media, BBC Films and BFI, with funds from the National Lottery, are lead financiers on the project, along with Head Gear, Econet and LipSync. Participant will be handling the sale of North American distribution rights, while Cornerstone Films will oversee international sales and distribution in all other territories. Econet will handle Sub-Saharan African distribution.

The film follows 13-year-old William Kamkwamba (newcomer Maxwell Simba) who is thrown out of the school he loves when his family can no longer afford the fees. Sneaking back into the school library, he finds a way, using the bones of the bicycle belonging to his father Trywell (Ejiofor), to build a windmill which then saves his village from famine. The emotional journey of a father and his exceptional son at its heart, William’s tale captures the incredible determination of a boy whose inquisitive mind overcame every obstacle in his path. Key themes from the film aim to raise awareness around environmental sustainability and the power of education.

In addition to Ejiofor and Simba, the cast features Lily Banda as William’s older sister Annie; Noma Dumezweni (Hermione in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) as Edith Sikelo, the librarian who helped bring William’s story to public attention; Aissa Maiga (Anything for Alice) as William’s mother Agnes; Joseph Marcell (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) as Chief Wimbe; and Lemogang Tsipa (Eye in the Sky) as teacher Mike Kachigunda.

Ejiofor is well known for starring in recent successful releases including Doctor Strange, , and , for which his leading performance garnered him an Academy Award® nomination and his BAFTA Award win. He is represented by CAA and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof and Fishman. He is represented in the UK by Alex Irwin with Markham Frogatt & Irwin. Casarotto Ramsay & Associates represent Ejiofor worldwide for directing and writing.

The production leads of the film include Academy Award®-nominated and BAFTA Award-nominated cinematographer Dick Pope (Mr. Turner), production designer Tulé Peak (City of God), costume designer Bia Salgado (City of God) and editor Valerio Bonelli (Philomena).

BBC Films, Participant Media and BFI present, and in association with Head Gear & Metrol Technology, EcoNet, LipSync and Cornerstone Films, a Potboiler Production.

For further information: Jonathan Rutter/Nicki Foster [email protected] [email protected]

NOTES TO EDITORS

ABOUT PARTICIPANT MEDIA Participant Media (www.participantmedia.com) is the leading media company dedicated to entertainment that inspires and compels social change. Founded in 2004 by Jeff Skoll, Participant’s content combines the power of a good story well told with opportunities for real world impact and awareness around the most pressing global issues of our time. Participant’s more than 75 films, including Spotlight, Contagion, Lincoln, The Help, He Named Me Malala, The Look of Silence, CITIZENFOUR, Food, Inc., and An Inconvenient Truth, have collectively earned 52 Academy Award® nominations and 11 wins, including Best Picture for Spotlight. Participant’s digital entertainment division, SoulPancake (www.soulpancake.com), is an award-winning provider of thought-provoking, joyful, and uplifting digital content including such widely popular series as Kid President and The Science of Happiness and reaches an audience of nearly 9 million fans. Follow Participant Media on Twitter at @Participant and on Facebook and Instagram. Follow SoulPancake on Twitter @soulpancake and on Facebook and Instagram.

ABOUT BBC FILMS BBC Films is at the forefront of independent filmmaking in the UK, developing and co-producing around twelve films a year. In 2015 BBC Films was awarded the Michael Balcon BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. Rose Garnett is the Director of BBC Films. Upcoming films include ’ directorial debut, Breathe, starring and Claire Foy, which opened the BFI Film Festival and will be released in the UK by STX international on 27 October, Lionsgate's On Chesil Beach starring Saoirse Ronan which made its world premiere in Toronto, and Apostasy, directed by first time filmmaker Daniel Kokotajlo, to be released by Curzon following autumn festival debuts in Toronto, San Sebastian and most recently the BFI London Film Festival. Other titles on their slate include eOne's The Children Act featuring and and the documentary Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami, which will be released in cinemas on 27 October through Trafalgar Releasing. Currently in production are The White Crow directed by , Denmark starring Rafe Spall and Out of Blue directed by Carol Morley and starring Patricia Clarkson. Their films in post-production include Yardie, ’s directorial debut, Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir executive produced by Martin Scorsese, Stan & Ollie starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly, The Aftermath with and Alexander Skarsgård and VS. starring Screen’s Star of Tomorrow, Connor Swindells. Their pre-production slate includes Peter Strickland’s ghost story In Fabric starring Oscar nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Gypsy Boy with , set to shoot in 2018. .co.uk/bbcfilms Twitter @BBCFilms

ABOUT THE BFI The BFI Film Fund supports world-class UK filmmaking from talent and film development, through to production and audience development across exhibition, distribution and international sales. With over £50 million of National Lottery funding to invest each year, the BFI is the UK's largest public investor in film. Highly anticipated films backed by the BFI include Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here which won Best Screenplay for Ramsay and Best Actor for at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; Michael Pearce’s Beast; Andy Serkis’ Breathe which opened the BFI London Film Festival; Clio Barnard’s Dark River; Rungano Nyoni’s I am Not A Witch which premiered in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight; Andrew Haigh’s Lean on Pete which screened In Competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival; Deborah Haywood’s Pin Cushion which opened the Critics’ Week at Venice; Daniel Kokotajlo’s Apostasy; Paddy Considine’s Journeyman; Saul Dibb’s Journey’s End; Andrew Kötting’s Lek and The Dogs; Lucy Cohen’s Kingdom of Us; Paul Wright’s Arcadia; Michael Pearce’s Beast; Peter Mackie Burns’ Daphne; Sophie Fiennes’ Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami; Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Mary Shelley; Sky Neal and Kate McLarnon’s Even When I Fall; Thomas Clay’s Fanny Lye Deliver’d; Toby MacDonald’s Old Boys; Mercedes Grower’s Brakes; Amma Asante’s Where Hands Touch; Steve McLean’s Postcards from London and Nick Park’s Early Man. In prep and production are Tom Harper’s Country Music; Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir; Annabel Jankel’s Tell it to the Bees; Claire Denis’s High Life; Mike Leigh’s Peterloo; Idris Elba’s Yardie; Tim Travers Hawkins’ XY Chelsea; Brian Welsh’s Beats; Wash Westmoreland’s Colette; Tinge Krishnan’s Been So Long; Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War; and Jim Hosking’s An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn.

ABOUT CORNERSTONE FILMS Cornerstone Films is a London/LA based international film production and sales company. A leader in its field, the company was launched in the spring of 2015 by Mark Gooder and Alison Thompson. Cornerstone represents and curates a diverse slate of films of enduring quality, ranging from commercial wide release movies to talent-driven films from world-renowned filmmakers. The company secures rights to some of the best independently produced films, optimising the value of those rights by exploiting them across the world through sales and distribution to studios and independent distributors. The company is building long-term relationships with global producing partners, offering creative and market-place support early in the production process and collaborates closely with German production and distribution company X-Filme. Cornerstone’s slate includes: Mike Leigh’s upcoming British historical drama Peterloo; ’s directorial debut Georgetown starring Christoph Waltz, , and Annette Bening; The Kill Team by Academy Award® nominated director Dan Krauss, starring Nat Wolff and Emmy award-winner Alexander Skarsgård; Daniel Kokotajlo’s award-winning Apostasy which had its world premiere in the Discovery section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival; boxing drama Journeyman by writer, director and actor Paddy Considine which had its world premiere at the London Film Festival; Henry-Alex Rubin’s crime-thriller Semper Fi; The Chocolate Money directed by Adam Shankman; John Turturro’s dramatic comedy Going Places starring among others Turturro and Susan Sarandon. Currently on release is BAFTA Award-winning director Joel Hopkins’s Hampstead; starring Diane Keaton and . In addition, the company previously handled Mick Jackson’s Denial, starring Academy Award® Winner Rachel Weisz alongside two-time Academy Award® nominated Tom Wilkinson; Vincent Perez’s Alone in Berlin starring Emma Thompson, Daniel Brühl, and Brendan Gleeson; and Asif Kapadia’s Academy Award® winning Amy Winehouse documentary Amy.