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Year: 2017
Runtime: 86 min
Language: French
Director: Stephen Brown
In the midst of humanitarian crisis, Israel's elite operatives embark on a perilous mission to extract stranded Ethiopian Jewish refugees from war-torn Sudan in 1979. As they navigate treacherous terrain and confront the harsh realities of war, their bravery and compassion are tested against the backdrop of human desperation.
Warning: spoilers below!
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Kebede Bimro, an Ethiopian Jew, teams up with the intrepid Ari Levinson, an Israeli Mossad agent, in a daring mission to rescue Jewish-Ethiopian refugees and lead them to safety in Israel. Realizing that his operations in Ethiopia would be significantly enhanced with an effective cover, Ari pitches an audacious plan to Israeli intelligence officer Ethan Levin. This strategy involves leasing the Red Sea Diving Resort, a defunct hotel along the Sudanese coast, allowing them to use it as a façade for their humanitarian efforts. The unusual proposal garners hesitant approval, prompting Ari to recruit his former Mossad allies: Rachel Reiter, Jake Wolf, Max Rose, and Sammy Navon to help in this secretive endeavor.
Upon their arrival in Sudan, the team finds themselves unexpectedly popular as the brochures they had prepared attract real tourists to the resort. Although managing guests wasn’t part of the original plan, Ari soon realizes that this influx of visitors can effectively mask their refugee evacuation operations. Thus, the group smoothly runs the resort as a legitimate business while clandestinely facilitating the escape of refugees to a waiting Israeli ship stationed off the coast. Their initial efforts yield success, allowing several extraction missions to unfold without a hitch. However, their luck begins to wane when Sudanese Colonel Abdel Ahmed uncovers the operation after he tortures and kills a group of refugees. Ahmed’s visit to the resort threatens their whole setup, and though he investigates, he doesn’t detect the secretive refugee efforts.
As tensions rise, one fateful night, Ari and Sammy face arrest after a close call with Sudanese soldiers during an evacuation operation. Released from custody, they return to find Levin informing them that the mission has been compromised and must be canceled. However, the threat intensifies when Ahmed, relentless in his pursuit, returns to the resort, leading Rachel into a desperate situation where she must kill one of his men to protect the hidden refugees. In a bold move, Ari arranges a last-ditch effort to evacuate the refugees via cargo plane, enlisting help from Walton Bowen, a CIA officer. Together, they transport the refugees to an abandoned British airfield, where they narrowly escape from Ahmed, managing to extract both themselves and the refugees to safety.
Last Updated: October 25, 2024 at 10:44
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