It’s no surprise filmmakers are turning to Netflix in their droves. With successes like Oscar-nominated Roma , the streaming giant is fast becoming the go-to platform for those wanting to tell stories outside the norm. Take Chiwetel Ejiofor’s new feature The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind . Marking the directorial debut of the celebrated British-Nigerian actor, it’s a true story largely told in Chichewa, the language of African country Malawi. This sort of film is increasingly hard to get into cinemas. Best of Berlinale 2019: Tilda Swinton acts with daughter, Casey Affleck’s new film With Netflix buying the rights, Ejiofor is going to see his film pumped into living rooms worldwide. “It’s very exciting to have the capacity to tell the story on a global level,” he says. “It maximises the potential.” Of course, when he started working on the project 10 years ago, Netflix was not on his mind. After reading the bestselling book by William Kamkwamba, upon whose life it’s based, and Bryan Mealer, he simply wanted to bring it to screens. Set in 2002, when Malawi was hit by a devastating famine, the resourceful 14 year-old William develops a wind machine made from scrap to bring life-saving electricity to his village. “I was just very moved by William’s story,” says Ejiofor. “I was moved by it and inspired by it. It was really a hopeful story. It’s a story that lived in the solution, so it wrestled – and he wrestled – with these problems. But he wrestled with them in this extraordinarily positive way.” With the increased attention on climate change, Kamkwamba’s story has a strong ecological message, showing just how those “at the pointy end of the stick”, as Ejiofor puts it, are suffering the most. “It’s our most vulnerable communities that are going to feel the impact of our decisions first. These are people who absolutely rely on consistency of climate to get through year-to-year. And the climate is changing these dynamics. [It shows how] our impact is very strong and very powerful in a global community.” If anything, William’s story of harnessing natural energy is the perfect example for a world on the brink of environmental change. “A global community working together to solve issues is going to have to be the way we move forward,” says Ejiofor, “as opposed to the ostrich [head in the sand] mentality that we have until it comes knocking at our door, which it is going to do. I think William’s story totally represents part of that cultural shift in terms of how we look at these environmental issues.” With newcomer Maxwell Simba playing the young William, Ejiofor stars opposite him as William’s father Trywell, who is increasingly desperate as the famine scorches his farmland. When Ejiofor started writing the screenplay, he was too young for the role. “But over the 10 year period it took to make the film, I grew into the sweet spot of playing Trywell,” he explains. “So then I thought, ‘Now it makes sense.’ It was something I was curious about. I wanted to try.” Now 41, Ejiofor is indeed ideally suited to play the careworn father. “It was good for me to be able to take my time with it,” he adds, “to make all my trips to Malawi, to really get to know the place, to come back and then write another draft and then go off and do something else.” Working as an actor on films directed by the likes of Ridley Scott ( The Martian ) and Garth Davis ( Mary Magdalene ) in the interim helped him soak up experience before making the leap behind the camera. Of course, making your first feature is a little easier when you’ve got director friends on hand. Surprise best hair and make-up Oscar contender is Nordic noir with a supernatural folklore twist Both Stephen Frears and Steve McQueen, who directed Ejiofor respectively in Dirty Pretty Things and 12 Years a Slave , “popped into the edit room and looked at the film” and gave him notes. “We had great conversations.” He also won the services of the “incredibly experienced” Dick Pope, the regular cinematographer for writer-director Mike Leigh, who shot the film. While Ejiofor believes the film will be “inspiring and hopeful” for those living in the West, he has other ambitions. “Can you imagine what it would represent to people in these communities [like the one William lived in]?” It means extending the film even beyond Netflix’s vast reach. “That’s what we’re investigating, how we can expand the film into different communities that don’t necessarily have easy access to the internet.” Ejiofor will next be returning to big screens in two massive Disney projects – the remake of The Lion King (he’ll voice the villainous Scar) and the sequel to the fairy tale hit Maleficent . But he wants to direct again, and soon. “I definitely would like to. I was very spoilt in this experience. It was such a total experience for me and just a very rich artistic experience.” He pauses, deep in thought. “It was the richest and fullest experience of my life.” The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind starts streaming on Netflix from March 1.