William and the Windmill

Free Screening

Held at the Roeliff Jansen Community Library as part of Columbia County’s Community Read program.

Saturday, Sept. 23, 4pm

Roeliff Jansen Community Library
9091 Route 22
Hillsdale, NY 12529

Families are invited to join us for a free screening of William and the Windmill at the library as part of Columbia County’s Community Read program.

William and the Windmill is a 2013 documentary about the life of William Kamkwamba, the subject of the Community Read’s selection, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

With only a library book as his guide, 14-year-old Kamkwamba builds a windmill in his Malawian village that changes his life forever. Using junk parts and an inexhaustible imagination, he harnesses enough energy to power a generator that saves his family from famine and resuscitates his dying farming community.

Winner of the SXSW Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary, The Austin Chroniclecalls it “a subtle but beautiful portrait,” and Indiewire described it as “a fascinating look at the tricky balancing act of third world activism.”

This program is part of the 2023 Columbia County Community Read, sponsored by the Columbia County Libraries Association, with financial support from Humanities New York, the Ackerman Foundation, the Rheinstrom Hill Community Foundation, Stewart’s Shops, the Bank of Greene County, and the Crandell Theatre.