Producer, writer, and director Gideon Raff is, perhaps, most well-known for creating the hit Israeli show “Prisoners of War,” and producing and writing several seasons of its American counterpart “Homeland.” A veteran of both television and film, Raff’s latest feature-length effort, “The Red Sea Diving Resort,” tells the important story of a group of Mossad agents (Chris Evans, Haley Bennett, Michiel Huisman, Alessandro Nivola, Alex Hassell), who embark on a covert operation to, with the help of local Kabede Bimro (Michael K. Williams), provide safe passage for persecuted Ethiopian Jews during a time of heightened religious tensions between the first and second civil wars of Sudan in 1977.
A timely true story aching to be told again to a wider audience and boasting an all-star cast that also includes Greg Kinnear and Ben Kingsley, “The Red Sea Diving Resort” is a refreshing change-of-pace for the “Homeland” alumnus.
Ahead of the July 31 release of “The Red Sea Diving Resort” on Netflix, I spoke to Raff about his passion for the history behind the film, how eerily timely it is, the envious cast, capturing authenticity with his period piece in casting Ethiopian Jews and hiring several dialect coaches, Nivola’s angelic voice, and more.
When did you first realize you needed to tell this story?
I was shooting a different show in Croatia, and my producer on this movie, Alexandra [Milchan], called and said, “Did you ever hear the story of the hotel that was used in this operation in Sudan?” And I’m Israeli. I was born and raised in Israel. I’ve never heard of this operation. I heard of the bigger ones later in the ’80s and ’90s, but I never heard about this specific operation. I flew to Israel and I met with the Mossad agents that operated this hotel. And I met with many of the Ethiopians that did this courageous journey of leaving their homes and crossing the desert. And I was so inspired by what I heard and wanted to tell this story. I dropped everything and started writing.
There are clear parallels to refugee and immigrant crises happening all over the world today. History seems doomed to repeat itself over unless we move towards compassion. Do you hope this film contributes positively to the conversation about treating our global neighbors with more human kindness?
That’s exactly why I thought this movie is so timely and so important to be told right now. Compassion is a word that all of us need to practice way more in our lives. And what I was hoping, in telling this story also in an entertaining way, [to reach] an audience and [tell] an uplifting story that people can realize, “Maybe I’m not going to move to an enemy country and run a hotel in order to stay alive, but maybe I can just be kinder to my neighbor.”
And we also live in a world where people are drowning every week in the Mediterranean. People who are seeking a better future for themselves, for their children, and are getting on these small boats knowing there’s a risk but still want that better future. And we just read those headlines and move on. And I just don’t think we can afford to do that as humans. We are all connected. We are all the same. And we have to lift each other. We have to help each other because, otherwise, why are we here?
How important was it for you to cast actual Ethiopians in this film?
It was very, very important to me. I cast pure Israelis, Ethiopians, like Aviva Neguse, and Yossi Vasa, and Revital Iyov. These are just not amazing actors, but they’re telling the story of their lives. They’re telling the story of their families. When Aviva – who plays the woman in the camp berating them for them being stuck in the camp for so long – when she came to our costume trailer, she saw all the reference pictures that I put on the wall, and she recognized her mother, and her uncle, and her father, and she was in tears. And she then sat with the cast and told them her story. Same thing with Revital, who plays the Bedouin waitress, Nathifa, in the hotel. Her family went through this journey.
So, we say thanks after we were done the day at the hotel. Our cast would sit together and hear these stories and absorb the real sacrifices that the Ethiopians went through in order to get to Israel. The actual team that ran the hotel was an international community because, of course, they have to pass as non-Israeli. And they had to have another language that they were fluent in that was not Hebrew. So all of them had background. One of them from Uruguay, while one of them is from Germany, one of them from France. So I knew I’m going to have a very diverse cast, and I wanted them to all sit together and talk with their experiences.
Speaking of the cast, it’s a prestigious principal group. How were you able to gather such diverse talents? Were you relatively successful with first choices for casting?
Absolutely. Michael Kenneth Williams I sent the script to – he was in London at that time – and I flew to London to meet with him. And we sat together in the lobby of the hotel, and he was talking about the research that he did into this and the character, and from his own experiences. And I was so touched by how he was moved by the story and the fact that he wanted to tell the story. And I’ve long been a fan of his work. And when he started talking about Kabede Bimro, his eyes just – he became Kabede Bimro. It was incredible. All the way back to my hotel I was praying that he said yes. And he did.
Chris Evans, the incredible Chris, read the script and actually approached me. And he was so passionate about the role. And he did so much research, and he dedicated his whole to this role. And it was amazing to see how he is telling different parts of himself. On one hand, he’s an unequivocal leader, on the other hand he’s so courageous about telling his weaknesses and his vulnerability, and he was just perfect for the role. Sandro Nivola was a dream to work with. I’ve actually been a hell of a long, long, long fan of and I always wanted to work with him. Same thing with Haley Bennett, with Michiel Huisman, with Alex Hassell and, of course, with Greg Kinnear and Ben Kingsley.
There’s a subtle trend of Sandro throughout his films: He sings often. And he has a great voice, obviously. And there’s a little scene in this film where he’s playing the guitar and he sings a cover of that ’80s montage. Was that improv, or did you ask him to play around the campfire?
It started with me hearing Sandro singing on set. And it’s like you said, he has got an incredible, incredible voice. So, I knew I wanted him singing. I actually cut two scenes of him singing in the movie that were improv because I have to condense the movie to two hours. Listening to him playing the guitar and singing, you should have seen it. Two-hundred-and-fifty people, the crew, and all the actors…it was like a live performance of Leonard Cohen. It was just amazing. We were all melting.
That sounds amazing. Stylistically, you’ve infused a charming ’80s hue and tone to the film as well. How much creative control did you have over the music and editing? Did you study any classic ’80s montages to prepare?
All of them. Including video editing transitions. And I remember all those rainbows that opened up, and the circles, and the cool things that we used to do on editing based in the ’80s. So my editor and I, and my DP and I, we tried all of those things. And in order to strike that very fine tone between those moments of levity and the more gut-wrenching things that you see in the movie, [it] was important to tread carefully with those things.
To further help provide as authentic of an account of this mission as possible, did you have a dialect coach on set to assist your actors with the assortment of languages?
We had a few dialect coaches on set because we have a few dialects. And I think that was very important to me. And it was a thing that was very important to Michael K. Williams as well, who speaks Amharic in the movie. So, he had not only a dialect coach, but he also had a customs coach, somebody who could talk about how we would shake hands, how we would hug. And then we had a different dialect coach for the Mossad agents, who each had their fake undercover language. Haley was German, and Alessandro was Australian, Michiel Huisman was Italian, so, we had dialect coaches for them as well.
Michael’s quote at the end of the movie, “When you see your brother and sister suffering, go to their aid, help them. This extends to people of any belief, culture, or religion,” resonated as a perfect quote to emulate the themes of your film. It also ties into your director’s statement, wherein you mentioned, “The world is a better place when people lend a helping hand instead of erecting walls.” The Gaza fence and the West Bank concrete wall have obviously caused a lot of suffering to Palestinians, the tightened immigration policy and Trump’s proposed wall in the U.S. have done the same to immigrants. Not to conflate either conflict, but do you think this is the right approach for our governments to take towards these issues?
Well, I could give you my political views, but the truth of the matter is that, in this movie, what I wanted to do is show an example of what it looks like when we reach out to each other. I’m a Jew, and my ancestors have been on boats that have arrived in safe harbors only to be sent back to horrible places where they were exterminated. This should not happen anywhere.
I’m a big fan of your show Homeland. What were the key contextual differences you wanted to make in adopting “Prisoners of War” into the American version, “Homeland?”
When we were looking to adopt “Prisoners” to “Homeland,” the big thing was what’s applicable to an American audience. “Prisoners of War” is such a sensitive issue in Israel. And we all go to the army, so whenever something happens to a soldier, that happens to us. That’s not the same here in America. So, some of the elements had to be shifted with the help of my partners who developed it for American television.
You’ve done a fair amount of directing and screenwriting. Do you consider yourself more of a director or more of a screenwriter?
That’s the question I ask myself every day. It’s two parts of my personality that are so different. When I write, I’m pretty miserable, and lonely, and pull my hair out. And it’s a torturous journey of facing that blank page, but it’s something that I have to do every day. Otherwise, I feel like a complete failure. When I direct, it calls for more of leadership in myself. And there’s also always the lean back on the script, which you don’t have when you write the script, and whenever you’re stuck and it’s a lot of people working together. I think I’m happier when I direct, but I need them both.
Do you have any projects coming up that have you excited?
Yes. I’m really excited about a series that I’m doing for Netflix called “The Spy,” starring Sacha Baron Cohen. Hopefully, [production begins] later this year.
“The Red Sea Diving Resort” will be available to stream on Netflix on July 31.
