Winner of 6 International Film Awards !!!
Berlin International Film Festival :
Label Europa Cinemas
Panorama Audience Award
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
Copenhagen International Film Festival: Best Film
Ceasar Awards, France: Best Writing - Original
Vancouver International Film Festival: Most Popular Film
Salomon is nine years old, living in a desperate refugee camp in Sudan. In late 1984, there was a covert Israeli-American operation to save Ethiopian Jews, known as Falashas, by airlifting them to Israel. The Falashas, are a small branch of the Diaspora. But as they lined up for their exodus, Salomon's mother tells him firmly to 'go, live and become', the title of the movie. She saw in the exodus an opportunity for her son to escape the death, disease, famine and civil war that were ravaging Ethiopia. Salomon's mother would stay behind.
The trauma of being told by his mother to leave was already strong stuff. But there is more, Salomon is not even a Falasha. So the arrival in modern Israel is a double shock for him. However, Salomon becomes Schlomo, and we see that he is a quick learner. He learns Hebrew and, when he is adopted by a bi-lingual French-Hebrew family, he learns French, too.
However, Schlomo has a persistent and profound desire to see his mother again. He is wounded. On top of that injury, he has to deal with racism and bigotry in Israel, while hiding the fact that he is not a Falasha. Schlomo carries a lot of emotional baggage, but he has some good people rooting for him. Like Yarom and Yael, the couple who adopt Schlomo, and Sara, the girl who has him firmly in her sights. The story of Schlomo's trials and tribulations is moving on several levels.
This film confronts the question 'who is a Jew'. The answer is not self-evident. Indeed, the question has been the subject of impassioned debate in Israel for years. The Falashas are just one case study.
Directed by Radu Mihaileanu
Writing credits Alain-Michel Blanc
Radu Mihaileanu
Cast:
Yael Abecassis.... Yael Harrari
Roschdy Zem.... Yoram Harrari
Moshe Agazai.... Schlomo (child)
Moshe Abebe.... Schlomo (teenager)
Sirak M. Sabahat.... Schlomo (adult)
Roni Hadar.... Sarah
Yitzhak Edgar.... Quis Amrah
Rami Danon.... Papy
Meskie Shibru Sivan.... Schlomo's mother
Meskie Shribu Sivan.... Schlomo's mum
Mimi Abonesh Kebede.... Hana
Raymonde Abecassis.... Suzy