The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

After poor weather causes a famine in his rural village in Malawi, young William (Maxwell Simba) is forced to drop out of school when his father (Chiwetel Ejiofor) can no longer afford the tuition. Bright and precocious William searches for a solution to save his community and continue learning. When he learns about wind energy after sneaking into his former school’s library, he decides to build a windmill pump to irrigate the land. Based on the inspiring memoir of the same name by William Kamkwamba, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a powerful tribute to the importance of science education.

This screening will be preceded by a lecture from Neil I. Fox, Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Fox's lecture, "Harnessing the Wind," will talk about why wind power is good as an energy source and why there are places where wind power is better than others along with explaining the requirements and restrictions on wind power development and energy use in Malawi.