Live and Become

The anguished saga of an Ethiopian boy airlifted to Israel during the 1980s Operation Moses to escape persecution and famine, unfolds in this sweeping epic. After his mother sends him to Israel under false pretenses, Schlomo arrives posing as a Jewish orphan. Taken in by a liberal Jewish family, he bears the burden of living a lie and struggling with racism, while navigating love, family, and belonging. Three superb actors portray Schlomo at different ages, with Yaël Abecassis poignantly playing his adoptive mother. Writer-director Radu Mihăileanu’s emotionally charged exploration of immigration, assimilation, and self-identity won the French Best Screenplay César, the Berlinale Audience Award and Ecumenical Jury Prize, as well as the AJFF Audience Award.