The Road Home is in production in South Africa, and the film's backers have released the first image: Thabo Rametsi as Hugh Masekela, trumpet raised.
The film centers on a specific moment of fracture. When Paul Simon released Graceland in 1986, the Anti-Apartheid Movement launched a cultural boycott. Simon had recorded in South Africa in apparent violation of a UN cultural embargo. Masekela, who had lived in exile from his country for 30 years after fleeing in the wake of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, found himself at odds with his mentor Archbishop Trevor Huddleston. He sided with the album. Alongside Miriam Makeba, he joined the Graceland tour. That choice is where the film lives.
Rametsi also carries an executive producer credit on the project. He prepared for the role by visiting Masekela's gravesite. "I'll never tell the story of a real person without first going to their gravesite," he told Times Live. "It creates a spiritual connection to the character that you can't find anywhere else." Hugh Masekela's son Selema assisted Rametsi in developing the character's voice.
The cast includes Cynthia Erivo as Miriam Makeba, Johnny Flynn as Paul Simon, and Guy Pearce as Archbishop Huddleston. Michael Bronner and Zakes Mda wrote the script from Bronner's original story. Studiocanal produces and will distribute across the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand, among other territories. Filming continues in Stellenbosch.