John Legend has been cast as singer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte in The Road Home, a forthcoming drama about the political controversy surrounding Paul Simon’s 1986 album Graceland. The film matters because it will explore the tension between celebrating South African music internationally and respecting the cultural boycott against apartheid-era South Africa.

Directed by Bill Condon and currently filming in South Africa, the film stars Johnny Flynn as Simon, Thabo Rametsi as trumpeter Hugh Masekela and Cynthia Erivo as Miriam Makeba. Graceland was partly recorded in Johannesburg with South African musicians, but Simon was accused of breaching the United Nations-backed boycott; Belafonte had advised him to seek anti-apartheid leaders’ approval before travelling, advice Simon did not follow.