Ten year old Ahlo, who is believed to bring bad luck, is blamed for a string of disasters within the village. When his family are forced from their home he meets the spirited orphan Kia and her eccentric uncle Purple: an ex-soldier with a purple suit, a rice-wine habit and a fetish for James Brown. In a last plea to try and prove he’s not cursed, Ahlo builds a giant explosive rocket to enter the most lucrative but dangerous competition of the year: the Rocket Festival. A spirited, touching, witty and visually ravishing tale; which also subtly brings home the socio political and economic difficulties of the Laos people.