On May 14, 1948, Israel declared its independence as a state. The next day the country was attacked by five Arab countries. The new state was outnumbered and outgunned, facing attackers with tanks, trucks, artillery, and aircraft, while Israel had only a few military vehicles, old planes, and about 10,000 rifles to defend the entire state. 

 

Thanks, in part, to some clandestine recruiting, Israel built up a group of nearly 3,500 volunteers from 37 countries to join their fight for independence. Known as the machal, these overseas volunteers, mostly American and British WWII vets, served as doctors, soldiers, and, as shown in Nancy Spielberg’s gripping new documentary, the first pilots of Israel’s Air Force. 

 

Directed by Roberta Grossman (HAVA NAGILA, SJFF 2014; BLESSED IS THE MATCH: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF HANNAH SENESH, SJFF 2011 Audience Choice Award Best Documentary), this little-known story is brought to life through interviews with some of the pilots and rare archival footage. These pilots went to Israel for a variety of reasons – they believed in the Zionist movement, they wanted to fight for the underdog, they felt restless after WWII – but one thing is certain: these pilots helped save Israel from annihilation at the very moment of its birth.

 

Director Roberta Grossman is an award-winning filmmaker who has written more than forty hours of documentary film and television. Her films HAVA NAGILA (THE MOVIE) and BLESSED IS THE MATCH: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF HANNAH SENESH have both screened at SJFF (2014 and 2011, respectively) and at film festivals around the world. 

 

Producer Nancy Spielberg is an accomplished businesswoman, fundraiser and philanthropist who in recent years has turned her energy and talents to producing documentary films, such as the Oscar®-winning CHERNOBYL HEART (2003) and ELUSIVE JUSTICE: THE SEARCH FOR NAZI WAR CRIMINALS (2011), which aired on PBS nationally. Spielberg grew up in the film industry, working on her brother Steven’s early films.

Introduction by and Q&A with Bob Shay, US Navy veteran and Post Commander, Pacific Northwest Post 686 Jewish War Veterans of the USA.