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| Cinema of Our Time |
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Live and Become
Va, vis et deviens [LIVEA] France, Israel, 2005, 140 min, 35mm Directed By: Radu Mihaileanu PROD: Denis Carot, Marie Masmonteil, Radu Milhaileanu SCR: Radu Mihaileanu, Alain-Michel Blanc CAM: Remy Chevrin ED: Ludo Troch MUS: Armand Amar CAST: Yael Abecassis, Roschdy Zem, Moshe Agazai, Mosche Abebe, Sirak M. Sabahat |
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Shlomo is a nine-year-old Ethiopian boy who is sent by his mother to be part of Operation Moses, a program that returned Ethiopian Jews (Falashas) to Israel. But Shlomo has a secret: he isn't Jewish and he isn't an orphan, two lies that colour his entire existence. In Israel, Shlomo has the good fortune to be placed with a happy and loving family, composed of a tigress of a mother, a loving father and a wise grandfather. At its heart, this is a family drama that also encompasses the deeply complex and divisive politics of Israel, where moderates are pitted against religious fundamentalism for the heart and soul of a country. Young Shlomo finds himself thrust directly into the heated heart of this debate, as black, white, orthodox and secular views all erupt against a background of political protests, air raids and racial prejudice. Director Radu Milhaileanu narrows the broader implications of the Israeli struggle by focusing on three different chapters in Shlomo's life: childhood, adolescence and manhood, each leading up to the moment when he must finally confront his deepest fears and most cherished desires. It is both the story of one small boy, and anyone who starts over, reborn in a new land. When this film showed at the Berlin Film Festival it was greeted with a cheering ovation (it won the audience award in the Panorama sidebar) and it's little wonder. You may leave the theatre feeling as if you've lived a whole other life as an Ethiopian refugee in Israel. Epically entertaining in all senses of the word. Selected Filmography: Betrayal (93), Train of Life (98) Sponsored By Vancouver Courier |
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