• CANAL+'s film arm backs a ZAR 300-million feature rooted in South Africa's anti-apartheid music movement.
• Production kicks off June 29 in Cape Town, employing 300 crew members and up to 3,500 extras.
• The film fulfills commitments CANAL+ made during its contested acquisition of MultiChoice Group

STUDIOCANAL, the film and television production arm of French media group CANAL+, announced Wednesday it will produce The Road Home, a feature film centered on the creation of Paul Simon's landmark 1986 album Graceland, with principal photography beginning June 29 in Cape Town.

The film dramatizes one of the anti-apartheid movement's sharpest internal conflicts. Trumpeter Hugh Masekela, played by South African actor Thabo Rametsi, breaks with his mentor Archbishop Trevor Huddleston after the latter endorses the United Nations Cultural Boycott targeting Paul Simon. Masekela instead joins forces with Simon and vocalist Miriam "Mama Africa" Makeba, portrayed by British-Nigerian actress Cynthia Erivo, to build the Graceland band into a global platform for South African voices.

The scenario is drawn from in-depth interviews with Paul Simon himself, resources from the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation with script contribution from South African novelist Zakes Mda.

The ZAR 300-million production — roughly $16 million — will hire over 300 South African crew members and 68 local cast members, with international hires limited to specialist roles. The production will also mobilize an estimated 3,500 extras on Cape Town locations.

It is the first major production announced since CANAL+ completed its acquisition of MultiChoice Group — Africa's dominant pay-tv operator earlier this year. One of the conditions for the regulatory approvals for the acquisition was the requirement to invest in local content.  According to STUDIOCANAL CEO Anna Marsh, the project reflects CANAL+'s "continued commitment to investing in outstanding local content."  South Africa is "one of the best places in the world to produce compelling, high-quality content," she added.