The stage is all set this February for the production of ‘Rocket Boy’, the story of a young Black scientist that will surely capture hearts around the globe.
Produced by Wandile Molebatsi, Rocket Boy follows the true tale of Siyabulela Xuza, a recipient of the prestigious Order of the Baobab – an award given for outstanding innovation and distinguished service. Through the narrative, we are taken along his journey of developing a low-cost form of rocket fuel and the obstacles and victories that he walked through. “For me, this film is a celebration of African excellence. We forget that our continent has incredible stories of triumph and joy and that Africans have achieved remarkable things despite the heartache of some of our histories,” said Molebatsi. “If more local stories are to have their time to shine in the limelight there needs to be more buy-in from international investors and an easier way to connect African filmmakers to the international market. A turn-key option of how to secure financiers and finance models needs to be made available to producers as ethically grounded in sharing the African narrative.”
After a long journey of taking the Rocket Boy project as far afield as Toronto and Cannes, Molebatsi couldn’t be happier that the film found its home with AAA Entertainment who have a passion for enabling African content to have an international impact. According to Molebatsi, Rocket Boy is an amazing opportunity to project a very African narrative of hope and optimism into an international audience currently exposed to a lot of negativity surrounding South Africa. Through this film and its captivating and transformational story, we showcase the strength of African stories to shape how audiences around the world perceive our prosperity.
