THE RED SEA DIVING RESORT (2019)

Updated: Aug 21, 2019

RATING: 7.9/10✅

Thriller/Action/Biography

Kabede Bimro, an Ethiopian Jew, works with Israeli Mossad agent Ari Levinson to evacuate Jewish-Ethiopian refugees to Israel. Ari realizes that his ability to operate in Ethopia would be improved if he had a cover activity that would give him a reason for having a building and vehicles. He proposes to Israeli intelligence officer Ethan Levin a plan that would allow him to evacuate significantly more refugees: rent the Red Sea Diving Resort, an abandoned Sudanese coastal hotel, and run it as a front to facilitate moving refugees out of the country. The unorthodox plan is reluctantly approved, and Ari recruits his former Mossad colleagues Rachel Reiter, Jake Wolf, Max Rose, and Sammy Navon to assist him.

Details:

Directed by: Gideon Raff

Produced by: Aaron L. Gilbert, Alexandra Milchan, Gideon Raff

Written by: Gideon Raff

Starring: Chris Evans, Michael K. Williams, Haley Bennett, Michiel Huisman, Alessandro Nivola, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley

Music by: Mychael Danna

Cinematography: Roberto Schaefer

Edited by: Tim Squyres

Production Company: Bron Studios, EMJAG Productions, Shaken Not Stirred

Distributed by: Netflix

Release Date: July 28, 2019 (SFJFF), July 31, 2019 (United States)

Running Time: 130 minutes

Country: Canada, United States

Language: English

Production

The Red Sea Diving Resort is loosely based on the events of Operation Moses and Operation Joshua (jointly referred to as Operation Brothers), in which Ethiopian Jews were covertly moved from refugee camps in Sudan to Israel during the 1980s. The actual abandoned resort, the Arous Holiday Village on the Red Sea, was located roughly 70 kilometers from Port Sudan and was managed by Mossad operatives for a period of six months. The existence of these operations was first revealed in Gad Shimron’s 1998 book Mossad Exodus: The Daring Undercover Rescue of the Lost Jewish Tribe, though the film is not associated with the book.

In August 2015, Fox Searchlight purchased the rights for the film. Development on the film was first announced in March 2017, with Gideon Raff directing and writing the screenplay, and Chris Evans and Haley Bennett cast. In April, Michael K. Williams joined the project. In May, Greg Kinnear, Alessandro Nivola, and Ben Kingsley were added to the cast, with a filming start date of June 22, 2017, established. Chris Chalk was cast on June 15. Shooting took place in South Africa and Namibia.