Live and Become

Colour, 35 mm
France, Israel, Italy, Belgium, 2005, 146 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

Thanks to his false Jewish identity, a nine-year-old black Ethiopian manages to escape from a refugee camp in the Sudan, where he would have died of starvation. His mother - a Christian - smuggles him into a rescue transport for Ethiopian Jews known as Falash, who are offered asylum in Israel (“Operation Moses” in 1984). Under a different name, Shlomo finds it hard to get used to the new surroundings. He misses his mother and refuses to adapt to the collective with whom he is in constant conflict. However, his adoption into a harmonious family environment pacifies him somewhat, although he continues to suffer complexes in concealing his true origins. Before Shlomo grows up, he experiences difficulties trying to integrate in his quest for his true — human — identity: racist attacks, Judaism and the war in the occupied territories. He studies medicine in France before he is finally able, now a man and himself a father, to return to his roots.

About the director

Radu Mihaileanu (b. 1958, Bucharest) is a French director of Romanian and Jewish descent, the latter determining his artistic creed. He studied direction and film editing at the I.D.H.E.C. in Paris (1983). Before directing his own films, he worked as a screenwriter and assistant director (for Marco Ferreri, Fernando Trueba, Nicole Garcia etc.). He won a Debut Award at Montreal for his feature debut Trahir (1993). His second film The Train of Life (1998) was also hailed by the critics. The film won numerous awards, e.g. the FIPRESCI at Venice, the Donatello award in 1999, a César nomination in 1999 for Best Screenplay and Best Actor. The film was screened in the Horizons section at the KV IFF in 1999. The film Live and Become (2005) was inspired by the authentic story of an Ethiopian who, pretending to be a Jew since his childhood, was deported to Israel where he endured a wretched journey in search of his idenity.