Va, Vis et Deviens (Live and Become) DVD - 2005 film directed by Radu Mihaileanu. In 1980 the black Falashas in Ethiopia are recognized as genuine Jews. In turn they are secretly carried to Israel. The day before one such transport, the son of a Jewish mother dies. In his place and with his name (Schlomo) she takes a Christian 9-year-old boy. Upon arrival this second mother dies. Schlomo is adopted by a good family but remains depressed until he secretly sends a letter to his real mother. From the beginning he experiences large and small racist difficulties. In his teens, he and Sarah fall in love. Her father is an extreme racist. Schlomo tries to gain 'real Jewishness' by winning a competition in Bible interpretation, but there is no change of Sarah's father's attitude. Disappointed he goes to the police and reports himself as not being a Jew. But the police officer just gives him a scolding. 'The newspapers are full of that stuff, the Falashas are no Jews. Now they begin to believe it themselves.' His adoptive parents send him to France to study medicine. When he later marries Sarah, she loses her family and her status as a 'white Jew'. But he dares not tell her the truth until she becomes pregnant. She leaves him, but only because he had not trusted that she would love him as much anyway. His adoptive mother reconciles them. Sarah's first line when she returns: 'Unbelievable what three mothers would do for you.' But she makes a condition for returning: Schlomo must meet his real mother again. As a doctor he takes a job in the Ethiopian fugitive camp. Is she still alive? Stars Yaël Abecassis, Roschdy Zem, Moshe Agazai, Moshe Abebe and Sirak M. Sabahat. In Amharic, Hebrew and French. Unrated in the U.S., rated PG in Canada - 149 minutes.
Great film for immigrants and refugees who will relate to Schlomo's culture shock!