Chiwetel Ejiofor Talks 'The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind' and Authenticity At Sundance

For decades, BAFTA-winning actor Chiwetel Ejiofor has stunned on the stage and the big screen. With roles in films like 12 Years A Slave and Come Sunday, the Nigerian-English actor never seriously considered stepping on the other side of the camera. That quickly changed when he heard William Kamkwamba’s astounding story. Though he was just a boy in rural Malawi when famine struck his village in the early 2000s, William ingeniously built a windmill pump to bring water to the parched lands, saving his family's life.

Invigorated by Kamkwamba’s autobiography, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Ejiofor would embark on a decade-long journey that would unleash Kamkwamba's magnificent life onto the big screen and set the stage for his own directorial debut. Shadow and Act was present during a conversation at MACRO Lodge at Sundance Film Festival where Ejiofor sat down to chat with producer Adetoro Makinde about The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, his journey to bring it to the big screen, and why stories like these need a platform.

"The book came out in 2009," Ejiofor recalled. “A friend of mine was at the launch party for the book and told me about it then. I read it, and I was transported by William Kamkwamba's journey, his ingenuity, his attitude, his way of being, his thought process, his dynamism. There was this sense of humility and depth and intelligence and warmth and understanding of the wider geopolitical situation that was being described."

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Netflix's 'Come Sunday' Will Strike A Chord In Even The Most Reluctant Among Us (Review)

Religion is one thing, but faith is something else entirely. In 1998, Pentecostal Bishop Carlton Pearson had a revelation about his faith and his understanding of the word of God that rattled him to his core. His new radical beliefs rippled through his life so abruptly that he lost everything he once held dear to him. Based on Bishop Pearson’s life and a 2005 episode of NPR’s This American Life entitled "Heretics," director Joshua Marston’s arresting Come Sunday forces its audience to look inward and evaluate what we truly believe. A superb Chiwetel Ejiofor takes on the cadence and stature of the Tusla-based minister who was able to fill the pews of his massive Higher Dimensions church each Sunday with both black and white parishioners. Deeply committed to capturing the period and the environment of the Bible Belt, Marston hones in on everything from the frenzy of the evangelical movement to the eclectic style of the late ‘90s. His attention to detail, even filming the bishop’s worn and written in Bible, made the film realistic. Religion can be a difficult subject for Hollywood to tackle, but in his beautifully nuanced portrayal, Ejiofor captures a man who risked everything for the chance to speak his truth.

Amid the Rwandan genocide and grappling with the death of his beloved uncle (Danny Glover) who never gave his life to the Lord, Bishop Pearson hears God’s voice and has an epiphany. He believes that everyone is already saved and that there is no hell. On the pulpit one faithful Sunday he declares, “The God that we worship, from the parts of the Bible that we focus on, that God is a monster … worse than Hitler.” At the time, Bishop Pearson was affectionately referred to as Oral Robert’s “black son” in his community. His revelation, therefore, would crack his world open.

It’s not just Ejiofor who is captivating in this film, Condola Rashad is masterful as his often overlooked wife, Gina Pearson. A reluctant first lady and an outsider, Rashad presents a woman who continually sacrifices her needs for the church. Subverting the image of the meek and docile wife, Gina voices her opinions and ideas even when they aren’t popular. Rashad’s restraint in the role is what allows Gina’s strength to shine. When everyone else abandons Bishop Pearson, Gina remains steadfast, loyal and at his side — urging him to press forward despite the obstacles.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Review: 'Triple 9' Would Be a Typical Heist Film, But It’s Stand-Out Performances & Tantalizing Twists Give It Much More Depth

Walking home once, I stopped in my tracks and watched dozens of cop cars and emergency vehicles come racing down the streets; sirens ablaze. In New York City, and certainly in my neighborhood, siren sounds aren’t a rarity. However, what stopped me that day was the sheer number of cars zooming to their destination. The experience was so jarring, that it shocked me into a standstill.

Evidently, in many counties when a cop is shot, the code ‘999’ is called in; the results are what I witnessed on that fateful day.  Fellow cops were racing to help their distressed comrade. John Hillcoat’s fast-paced heist film ‘Triple 9” gave me that exact feeling. It is a film that not only encompasses the anticipation of looking at something exciting, but also (at times) captures that paralyzing state of being left in the dust. Helmed by a powerhouse ensemble which includes, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Casey Affleck, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Woody Harrelson, and Kate Winslet, “Triple 9” is one of those rare thrillers that actually keeps you guessing until its gory end.

Set in Atlanta, Georgia, Hillcoat turned away from the city’s typically seen charms, and instead forces the audience to swallow its most gritty and prickly backdrops. ‘Triple 9’ follows a rag-tag group of criminals, led by Ejiofor’s Michael Atwood.  Atwood plays a weary former ops solider, who finds himself under the beck and call of the Russian-Israeli mob, which is led by Winslet’s conniving and ruthless Irina Vaslov. Michael’s group includes two dirty cops, Marcus Belmont (played by Anthony Mackie), Jorge Rodriguez (played by a masterful Clifton Collins Jr.), as well as the Welch brothers, Gabe (Aaron Paul) and Russell (Norman Reedus), who is also Michael’s best friend.

With such a robust cast, and a complex but often-muddled narrative, it took some time for me to get my bearings with what was actually occurring onscreen. At times, I felt as if I were watching two different films. As Michael and his partners try to pull off one last heist for Irina, we also get to know Detective Belmont’s (Mackie) new partner, Chris Allen (Casey Affleck), who's a little too “green” for his own good.  We also learn about his uncle/mentor Jeffrey Allen, a true crimes investigator and drunk, played to perfection by Woody Harrelson. Obviously, these two worlds don’t stay separate for long, especially when the heist crew decides they need to pull a ‘999’ in order to complete their final task and walk away from Irina and the Russian mob for good.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Image: Triple 9/Open Road Films

Review: 'The Martian' Delivers + Watch Exclusive Footage with Co-Star Chiwetel Ejiofor Discussing the Film

Humans have long since been fascinated with space. There is a deep desire to discover what has previously been unknown, and a deep longing to connect with what has previously been untouched. Though brave men and women have ventured out into our vast universe, we still know very little. Instead, we are left to speculate about what we believe might be true. Ridley Scott's “The Martian” marks the third major “space film” to come out of Hollywood in the past three years, following 2013’s “Gravity” and 2014’s “Interstellar” which were both extremely successful. However with its expansive cast and focus not just on human survival, but on guilt and fear, “The Martian” is by far the best of the three.

In the midst of aborting a mission due to a horrendous storm on Mars, astronaut and botanist Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is separated from his crew. Though his crew leader Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) tries desperately to find him despite harrowing winds and obscured vision, her quest proves unsuccessful. Working under the assumption that he’s dead, his fellow crewmembers abandon Mars and begin their 10-month quest back to Earth. Only Watney isn't dead.

Prior to “The Martian”, I would have never been convinced that Matt Damon could carry a film in which he was alone for large chunks of it. However, set against director Ridley Scott’s stunning red deserts depicting Mars’ atmosphere, Damon forces the audience to empathize with Watney. As the lone being on a planet, he's astonished to be alive, and completely haunted by the idea of his impending death. Time certainly isn’t on his side. It will take 4 years for a new crew to get to Mars to retrieve him, and he only has enough food to last him a year.

Though Matt Damon gives a great performance, it's the ensemble characters that set “The Martian” apart from the other recent films that were set beyond our planet. Michael Peña, whom I’ve always felt was severely underused in films, stars as Astronaut Rick Martinez. As usual, he’s wit and comedic brilliance brings light and warmth to the confined space ship of Watney’s team members.

Donald Glover also has some fantastic moments. As the talented but off-kilter Rich Purnell, Glover gets the nuances and neurosis of a brilliant scientist who doesn’t quite grasp the skill of everyday conversation. Despite his “quirks” Rich Purnell’s role in the film is imperative.

Back at headquarters, the always-stellar Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Mars missions director Vincent Kapoor. When NASA discovers that Watney is alive, Kapoor finds himself between a rock and hard place. The space crew doesn't know that Watney has survived and NASA director Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) doesn’t seem too keen on telling them.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Image: The Martian/20th Century Fox