The story of Malawian teenager William Kamkwamba is candy for the Western imagination: In 2001, the 14-year-old Kamkwamba dropped out of school and picked up a library book about harnessing electricity, then built a windmill from scratch, effectively powering his subsistence farmer family and saving them from the debilitating effects of a famine. Kamkwamba's scientific achievement speaks for itself, but the attention he received in its wake is a thornier issue that Ben Nabors turns into a fascinating look at the tricky balancing act of third world activism. Transformed into a media darling and public cause, Kamkwamba was either rescued, exploited or -- as Nabors implies -- something in between. At the root of "William and the Windmill" is the relationship between Kamkwamba and Tom Rielly, an eloquent American entrepreneur who met Kamkwamba when he was invited to speak at a TEDGlobal conference and decided to invest in his future. Nabors...
- 3/11/2013
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
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