Khofar

"What the hell is Khofar?"
"A relaxing forest retreat in the Outer Rim where the Wookiee Jedi lives."

Khofar^[1] was a planet^[3] in the Outer Rim Territories that featured forest^[1] and jungle terrain. During the High Republic Era, the Wookiee Jedi Master Kelnacca lived a solitary life in the jungles of Khofar.^[5]

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Behind the scenes[]

Milestones[]

Khofar first appeared in "Revenge / Justice,"^[1] the second episode of the Disney+ series The Acolyte, released on June 4, 2024.^[7] The planet was first depicted in a trailer shown exclusively at Celebration Europe^[8] during the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase on April 7, 2023.^[9] Khofar was later identified on a character poster for Kelnacca originally posted on StarWars.com on May 28, 2024.^[5] In early versions of the story, Kelnacca went into hiding on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, but Khofar was later created to explore new locations.^[10]

Filming and set design[]

"I ended up taking over a soundstage and we built a massive forest that allowed five weeks' worth of shooting full of fauna and maybe 160 real trees, seven made trees, a full 360 painted backing so you couldn't shoot off the set."

―Kevin Jenkins^[11]

As a jungle was required for filming of scenes set^[11] on Khofar,^[2] The Acolyte's crew, including production designer Kevin Jenkins, chose the Portuguese island of Madeira, which was subsequently also utilized for various other locations in the series. Madeira served as the filming location for exterior shots of the jungle,^[11] the bridge area^[12] where Mae and "Qimir" land in the episode "Day,"^[2] and the hillside^[13] where Bazil first leads the Jedi in the same episode.^[2] The bridge at the landing site area, which Jenkins described as difficult to reach, was an existing structure with set decoration.^[14] Production in Madeira took place between March 12 through March 28, 2023.^[15]

As Madeira was only suitable for exterior shots of the jungle, Jenkins, inspired by the construction of a forest set for Dagobah^[11] in the 1980 original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back,^[16] wished to build a similar set for The Acolyte.^[11] The decision to use practical sets was also led by showrunner Leslye Headland, who did not wish to use The Volume, the soundstage featuring virtual landscapes utilized in other Star Wars productions.^[17] The production crew constructed an extensive forest on a soundstage^[11] in a warehouse,^[17] featuring approximately 160 real trees, seven artificial trees, and a full painted backing. The set also contained numerous other plants, fauna, a misted ceiling, and running water. The design of Khofar's trees, which Jenkins compared to spiders' webs or feet,^[11] was influenced by several paintings made by Ralph McQuarrie, including one^[18] originally created for Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back.^[19]

Five weeks' worth of shooting took place in the Khofar set.^[11] Yord Fandar actor Charlie Barnett described the Khofar set as an entire ecosystem that even had birds living in the ceiling.^[17] Due to the confusing nature of the set, a map was created and provided to arrivals on set.^[11] Amandla Stenberg, who portrayed Mae^[17] and Osha,^[2] recalled noticing the map and asking whether it was intended to be a canon map before being informed it was real. Jecki Lon actor Dafne Keen commented that she had literally tripped on mushrooms while on set.^[17]

The sequence of events on Khofar in "Day"^[2] with the time transitioning from afternoon through to sunset and then into night was intended to parallel the heightening tension of the episode as an indicator that a dangerous moment was approaching. Cinematographer Chris Teague described finding the right level of darkness for night scenes without detracting from the viewing experience to be challenging, wishing to ensure that the set design, as well as the action, was visible. Practical effects were used, with the setting sun in the background being constructed with a circle of plywood wrapped in gold fabric, which was hit with light to create a blood-red glow of the sunset. For the scene where Mae finds Kelnacca's body and the sun completely sets, Tungsten Fresnel lights on cranes were dropped at the correct moment to further amplify the tension.^[11]