The Road Home filmed in Cape Town as STUDIOCANAL bets on a South African story
STUDIOCANAL and Flora Films will produce The Road Home in Cape Town starting June 29, with a ZAR 300M budget, 300 local crew and up to 3,500 extras.
STUDIOCANAL has announced that its new feature film, The Road Home, will be filmed in Cape Town, bringing a distinctly South African narrative to a global audience.
The Road Home filming in Cape Town is scheduled to begin with principal photography in June, with production planned to start in the city on June 29.. STUDIOCANAL’s in-house studio, working with Flora Films, says the film is designed to travel beyond local borders while remaining rooted in the cultural and musical history that shaped its story.
Set against Paul Simon’s 1986 album Graceland, the film follows Hugh Masekela, a trumpeter pulled between two worlds after exile from South Africa.. The plot centers on the Anti-Apartheid Movement’s boycott of Simon, sparked by accusations that the album violated a United Nations cultural boycott.. As the conflict escalates, Masekela splits from his mentor, Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, who leads the boycott, and instead aligns with Simon and Miriam “Mama Africa” Makeba—portrayed by a cast assembled for the film’s ensemble focus on South African voices.
A key part of the movie’s premise is how music becomes both a battlefield and a bridge.. The story frames Masekela’s search for a path forward through art, culminating in the creation of a “Graceland band,” described as a super group meant to carry South Africa’s sound to international stages.. The arc is built around resilience: one thread is the pressure to choose sides, another is the determination to keep crafting a message even when the world outside turns uncertain.
To build authenticity, STUDIOCANAL says the screenplay was developed through what it describes as deep research, drawing on knowledge and resources connected to the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation.. The work was also enriched by contributions from acclaimed South African novelist Zakes Mda, and the production process included further research, including in-depth interviews with Paul Simon.. For a story that touches on real historical tensions around culture and activism, Misryoum understands that the details—how people remember events, how themes land—matter as much as the drama on screen.
On the production side, the scale of the undertaking is significant.. Misryoum reports that the film’s budget is roughly ZAR 300 million.. The project will employ more than 300 South African crew members, with only a small number of specialist roles filled internationally.. Casting will also lean heavily local: there are 68 local cast members, including Thabo Rametsi, and production is expected to include up to an estimated 3,500 extras, alongside globally recognized South African musicians.
Beyond the cast list, the announcement also signals how CANAL+—through STUDIOCANAL’s film and television production and distribution—plans to position South Africa within its premium storytelling pipeline.. The company says it is largely financing the feature, pointing to a strategy that couples international reach with local investment.. Filming on location in Cape Town is central to that plan, and it reinforces the narrative that the city can support large-scale, high-budget productions.
There is also a practical, human impact in numbers like these.. A crew of 300-plus people and thousands of extras typically means more than one set of local services gets pulled in at once—transport, catering, costume, security, and production support.. For local filmmakers and workers, it can be the difference between short-term gigs and a sustained production rhythm that helps skills circulate across the wider creative ecosystem.
For Misryoum, the bigger question is what this kind of investment means for future projects.. The Road Home appears designed not just to tell a story about culture, but to demonstrate that the film industry can mobilize local talent at scale while aiming for global attention.. With CANAL+ emphasizing authenticity and “major local and international stars,” the expectation is that Cape Town’s on-screen presence will come with an off-screen boost: more experience for local teams, more visibility for South African performers, and another title placed on the international map.
A major Cape Town production starts June 29
The production of The Road Home is set to begin in Cape Town on June 29, with STUDIOCANAL and Flora Films targeting a release-ready feature anchored in South African history and music.. Misryoum will keep an eye on how the project’s large-scale local hiring and research-driven script shape the final on-screen result.
CANAL+ links local investment to global storytelling
CANAL+ says the film reflects its commitment to premium international storytelling produced in South Africa, while also building on MultiChoice Group’s foundation in African narratives.. With The Road Home, the message is clear: a continent’s stories, when backed with resources and careful development, can be made for worldwide audiences without losing their roots.