''Live and Become'' (french: Va, vis et deviens) is a 2005 French
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
about an Ethiopian Christian boy who disguises himself as an
Ethiopian Jew to escape famine and emigrates to Israel. It was directed by Romanian-born
Radu Mihăileanu
Radu Mihăileanu (born 23 April 1958) is a Romanian-born French film director and screenwriter. He left Romania in 1980 and graduated the IDHEC cinematographic institute in Paris. In addition to his work in the cinema he published a book of poe ...
. It won awards at the Berlin and Vancouver film festivals among others.
Plot
Schlomo, an Ethiopian boy, is placed by his Christian mother with an
Ethiopian Jewish woman whose child has died. This woman, who will become his adoptive mother, is about to be airlifted from a Sudanese refugee camp to Israel during
Operation Moses
Operation Moses ( he, מִבְצָע מֹשֶׁה, ''Mivtza Moshe'') was the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews (known as the "Beta Israel" community or "Falashas") from Sudan during a civil war that caused a famine in 1984. Originally called '' ...
in 1984. His birth mother, who hopes for a better life for him, tells him "Go, live, and become," as he leaves her to get on the bus. The film tells of his growing up in Israel and how he deals with the secrets he carries: not being Jewish and having left his birth mother.
Cast
*Moshe Agazai as Child Schlomo
*Moshe Abebe as Teenage Schlomo
*
Sirak M. Sabahat as Adult Schlomo
*
Yael Abecassis as Yael Harrari
*
Roschdy Zem as Yoram Harrari
*Roni Hadar as Sarah
*Rami Danon as Papy
*Raymonde Abecassis as Suzy
*Mimi Abonesh Kebede as Hana
*Meskie Shibru-Sivan Hadar as Schlomo's mother
*Yitzhak Edgar as Qes Amhra
*Aaron Vodovoz as Kibbutz Boy
Accolades
International
In the United States
Audience Awards unless otherwise noted
* Boston Jewish Film Festival
*
Washington Jewish Film Festival
* Miami Jewish Film Festival
* Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
* Detroit Jewish Film Festival (Best Film)
*
San Diego Jewish Film Festival
The San Diego Jewish Film Festival (SDJFF) is an annual eleven-day-long film festival held in San Diego, California. Established in 1990, the festival is managed by the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture, at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community ...
* Orange County Jewish Film Festival
* Palm Desert Jewish Film Festival
* Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival
* Tampa Jewish Film Festival
* Seattle Jewish Film Festival
*
Cleveland International Film Festival
The Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) is an annual film festival based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is the largest film festival in Ohio. It was first held in 1977, showing eight films over a period of eight weeks at the Cedar Lee Theatre. ...
*
Nashville Film Festival
The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2016, Nashville Film Festival received more than 6,700 submissions from ...
* Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival
* Detroit Jewish Film Festival (Audience Award)
* Washington DC International Film Festival (Runner-Up)
* Aspen Filmfest
References
External links
Live and Becomeon IA (French)
Official Site*
*
{{Radu Mihăileanu
2005 films
Amharic-language films
2000s French-language films
2000s Hebrew-language films
French drama films
Israeli drama films
2005 drama films
Films about adoption
Films about immigration
Films about Jews and Judaism
Films directed by Radu Mihăileanu
Beta Israel
Films set in Israel
Films set in Sudan
2005 multilingual films
French multilingual films
Israeli multilingual films
2000s French films