Winner of the “Best Narrative Feature,” at the Tribeca Film Festival, “The Rocket” is about Ahlo, a 10-year-old boy believed to bring bad luck, and who is blamed for a string of disasters. When his family loses its home and is forced to move, Ahlo meets the spirited orphan Kia, nine years old, and her eccentric uncle, Purple: an ex-soldier with a purple suit, a rice-wine habit and a fetish for James Brown.

Struggling to hang on to his father’s trust, Ahlo leads his family, Purple, and Kia through a land scarred by war in search of a new home. In a last plea to try to prove that he’s not cursed, Ahlo builds a giant explosive rocket to enter the most lucrative but dangerous competition of the year: the Rocket Festival. As the most bombed country in the world shoots back at the sky, a boy reaches to the heavens for forgiveness.

“The Rocket” is one of the first feature films for international release set and shot in Laos, rarely seen by the outside world since the end of the Vietnam War. With remarkable access to real rituals and festivities in the stunning mountains of Laos, “The Rocket” is a unique view into a world never seen on film before.

Written and directed by Kim Mordaunt (“Bomb Harvest”), “The Rocket” features Sitthiphon Disamoe, a former street kid, as Ahlo, and veteran actor and comedian Thep Phongam as the damaged but humorous Purple.  The film is not rated.

Tickets for “The Rocket” are $6 for regular admission and $5 for senior citizens, Hope College faculty and children.  Tickets will be sold at the door but are also available in advance at the ticket offices in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse (222 Fairbanks Ave.) and the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center (100 E. Eighth St.).  Both offices are open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.

The Knickerbocker Theatre is located at 86 E. Eighth St.

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