An extraordinary documentary from Romanian-born French filmmaker Radu Mihaileanu, and a companion to his Live and Become (which opened our 2005 Festival), Operation Moses tells the true story behind the emergency evacuation of the Falashas (Ethiopian Jews) to Israel between 1977 and 1985. It is an inspiring and heartbreaking story. This almost miraculous deliverance from a war-torn and famine stricken continent was accompanied by a massive yet avoidable loss of lives, as well as the enforced separation of families and children from their parents who remained behind. As the then pro-Soviet Ethiopian régime forbade its Jews to leave, many thousands were hastily encouraged by Israel to flee to Sudan, from where they were to be airlifted to Israel. But Sudan was a Muslim country under Sharia Law, where Jews were in danger of their lives. As organized by the IDF, the CIA, Sudanese security forces, and a cast of less-savoury characters and other governments, and financed in part by American philanthropists, this secret rescue mission succeeded in bringing as many as 8,000 Ethiopian Jews back home to Israel, where their status as Jews was finally recognized. An estimated 4,000, however, died on the way, and another 1,000 were left behind to be rescued later.