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Following the life of an Ethiopian boy passed off as an African Jew to escape his ravaged country, Live and Become is a lush, moving and epic drama which spans two continents and two decades. Directed by Radu Mihaileanu (Train Of Life), the film blends real life events with sensitively created narrative to create a truly poignant story.

In 1984, Schlomo is airlifted from a Sudanese refugee camp to Israel via the Israeli run "Operation Moses'', a procedure designed to relocate thousands of Falashas, or Ethiopian Jews, to Israel. Now a teenager living in Tel Aviv. Schlomo gradually learns the intricacies of the Jewish faith and Western society, but most prominently he is falling in love, a lesson made all the more difficult by the constant war in the country's occupied zones and the vicious prejudice he is subjected to from Israelis who cannot accept that JOWS can also be black. As Schlomo grows, so too do his aspirations but his existence is always shadowed by his childhood secret. Torn between two identities, he must make the heart-wrenching decision about which one he chooses to embrace.

Adroitly handling the challenging feat of incorporating themes of racism, religious intolerance redemption, a sense of self and the complex realities of the immigrant experience, Live and Become follows the exceptional destiny of a young man who gradually discovers a love of life in all its forms, and tells an engrossing, acutely observed and emotionally searing tale about culture, identity and belonging.

Director:

Radu Mihaileanu [1],

Starring:

Moshe Abebe [1], Roschdy Zem [4], Rami Danon [1], Meskie Shibru Sivan [1], Raymonde Abecassis [1], Yael Abecassis [1], Moshe Agazai [1], Sirak M. Sabahat [1], Mimi Abonesh Kebede [1], Roni Hadar [1], Yitzhak Edgar [1],

Screen Formats:

Widescreen 1.78:1

Subtitles:

English

Language and Sound:

French Dolby Digital Stereo

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