Live and Become

A poignant and uplifting journey of human spirit, Live and Become (2005, directed by Radu Mihaileanu) tells the story of Schlomo, a 9-year old boy from war-torn and poverty stricken Ethiopia, who was forced by his mother to pretend he is a Jewish orphan so that he has a chance at being adopted by an upper class Jewish family in Israel.

"A mother who loves her son so desperately, she's willing to send him away, and never see him again, ready to lose him... to save him."

The drama unfolds slowly over two-hours during which Schlomo grew up to be a young man. His role had to be played by three different actors to reflect the change of time. Peppered with wisdom, this film is unmissable!!

They had been forgotten on their mountaintops, near Gondar. Yet, since the dawn of time, the Ethiopian Jews, known as the "Falashas", dreamed of returning to their homeland, the Holy Land, Jerusalem. With Israeli and U.S. Aid, a vast program was undertaken from November to January 1985 to transport the Ethiopian Jews to Israel. The Falashas were returned and finally recognized as descendants of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The Israeli secret service carried out the operation on the sly, keeping it from the Mengitsu pro-Soviet regime who had prohibited their emigration. The Falashas walked from Ethiopia to Sudan, a Muslim country under Charia law. There, they had to hide their Jewish identity under pain of death In Sudan, planes awaited to take them to Israel. On the road, hundreds died of sickness, famine, exhaustion. Others were killed by bandits. In the 1980s, the Sudanese camps welcomed thousands of Africans from 26 countries who were prey to famine: Christians, Muslims, and clandestine Jews. The first secret airlift operation, known as "Operation Moses", saved 8,000 Ethiopian Jews. 4,000 died on the road between Ethiopia and Sudan, murdered, tortured or suffering from famine, thirst and exhaustion. Many children reached the Holy Land alone or as orphans.