The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019)

Israel's Mossad agents attempt to rescue Ethiopian Jewish refugees in Sudan in 1979.

Director:

Gideon Raff

Writer:

Gideon Raff

Stars:

Mbulelo Grootboom, Sizo Mahlangu, Michael Kenneth Williams

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mbulelo Grootboom	...	Ethiopian Rebel Commander
Sizo Mahlangu	...	Ethiopian Rebel Soldier
Michael Kenneth Williams	...	Kabede Bimro
Masasa Mbangeni	...	Mother
Setlhabi Jacob Taunyane	...	Grandfather (as Setlhabi Taunyane)
Ditebogo Ledwaba	...	Daughter
Motsi Tekateka	...	Father
Reabetswe Modiga	...	Tespha
Taye Tagese Leimango	...	Neighbor
Alessandro Nivola	...	Sammy Navon
Chris Evans	...	Ari Levinson
Simphiwe Ndhlebe	...	Metdel (Drowning Ethiopian Girl)
Yossi Vasa	...	Retta
Greg Kinnear	...	Walton Bowen
Faheem Vally	...	Driver

Storyline

Inspired by remarkable true life rescue missions, this is the incredible story of a group of Mossad agents and brave Ethiopians who in the early 80s used a deserted holiday retreat in Sudan as a front to smuggle thousands of refugees to Israel. The undercover team carrying out this mission is led by the charismatic Ari Kidron and courageous local Kabede Bimro.

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Plot Keywords:

israeli navy | based on true story | refugee | ethiopian jew | refugee camp | 

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Taglines:

In the 1980s one partnership saved thousands of lives

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English Amharic

Release Date:

31 July 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Red Sea Diving Resort

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Company Credits

Production Co:

BRON Studios, EMJAG Productions, Shaken Not Stirred

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Haley Bennett and Chris Evans were originally to star opposite each other in The Girl on the Train (2016) until Evans dropped out to star in Gifted (2017).

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Goofs

The plaques and citations in Hebrew hanging on Ari's wall have glaring spelling mistakes and use of bad computer-generated translations to Hebrew.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Kabede Bimro: [narrating] My country is once again broken. Death is spreading. The new government is waging a war against the rebels. The rivers again have turned red with blood. Thousands dead. Millions disfigured, dishonored, displaced.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Failed Oscar Bait Movies of 2019 (2020)

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Soundtracks

Mi'Ma'amakim
Written by Idan Reichel (as Idan Raichel) and Gilad Shmueli
Performed by The Idan Raichel Project
Courtesy of Helicon Records

User Reviews

An Ethiopian exodus from Sudan to Israel

Movies dealing with an exodus in the direction of the Holy Land are plethoric. I think in particular about Exodus (1960) with Paul Newman and directed by Otto Preminger and then about Va, vis et deviens (2005) as heartbreaking as moving. Operation Brothers (2019) is clearly a popcorn version of a real mission organized by the Mossad in order to secretly evacuate Ethiopians who have fled their native country in complete food crisis, via an abandoned Sudanese hotel, the Red Sea Diving Resort.

By being slightly in bad faith, the expedition looks a bit like Captain America with his team of Avengers saving Ethiopians undeservingly persecuted by Sudanese. But the director Gideon Raff skillfully avoided falling into these clichés and the film is globally successful, although we are very far from a cinematographic masterpiece. I particularly appreciated the performance of Chris Chalk, Greg Kinnear and Ben Kingsley who highlight the intergalactic star Chris Evans.

PS: I remain stunned by the sterile duel between the two extremist groups « 10 of 10 » versus « 1 of 10 » who represent, on August the 1st, more than a third of the votes.