Barely in his teens and already widely known for his cleverness, precocious schoolboy William (Maxwell Simba) has big plans that he hopes will one day take him far beyond his remote Malawian village. Always tinkering with radios and skillfully turning scrap from the local landfill into working electronics, William thrives under the gentle guidance of his farmer father Trywell (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and mother Agnes (Aïssa Maïga). When a devastating drought hits in the summer of 2001, William and his community find themselves hounded by big timber interests, seizing on the locals’ desperation while their corrupt government turns a blind eye, all as the sun beats down and the drought worsens. Pushed to the edge of survival, William must work quickly against the bonds of tradition and his own increasingly desperate family, and use his gifts to turn his community’s fortunes around in this unforgettable true story and directorial debut from Ejiofor.

In competition for the FIPRESCI Prize