In Radu Mihaileanu's affecting drama based on actual events, young Ethiopian Solomon (Mosche Abebe) is swept up into Operation Moses, a joint effort between American and Israeli troops aimed at relocating Jewish refugees from Africa to Israel. Hoping to shield her son from an impoverished life, Solomon's Christian mother forces him to declare himself Jewish and join the exodus. The boy is adopted by a Sephardic family and migrates to Israel.