Netflix thriller film presents Ethiopian Jewish exodus to Israel
Trailer drops for ‘The Red Sea Diving Resort,’ directed by Israeli Gideon Raff and starring Chris Evans, inspired by rescue missions in Sudan
Netflix on Tuesday unveiled the trailer for a new film by an Israeli screenwriter and director, telling the story of a Mossad operation to rescue Ethiopian Jews from Sudan in the early 1980s and bring them to the Jewish state.
The spy thriller, “The Red Sea Diving Resort,” is inspired by real events and will be released on July 31. It was written and directed by Gideon Raff (“Homeland,” “Prisoners of War”).
Chris Evans of “Captain America” fame, sporting a new beard, stars in the lead role as Mossad agent Ari Levinson, who leads the undercover team alongside a member of the local Ethiopian community played by Michael Kenneth Williams (“The Wire”).
Also in the cast are Haley Bennett, Alessandro Nivola, Michiel Huisman, Chris Chalk, Greg Kinnear, and Ben Kingsley, who last year starred as Nazi arch-henchman Adolf Eichmann in the movie “Operation Finale.”
In the film, the agents use a deserted holiday resort in war-ravaged Sudan as a cover for smuggling thousands of Jewish refugees to Israel.
The intense, action-packed movie is sure to attract fans of films such as “Argo” and “Hotel Rwanda,” whose influences are evident.
The Mossad spy agency conducted several covert operations throughout the 1980s to bring to Israel Ethiopian Jews who had fled to neighboring Sudan after Mengistu Haile Mariam’s totalitarian regime cut off Addis Ababa’s relations with the Jewish state and deported Israelis.
The Times of Israel Community.