On the surface, "Va, vis et deviens" is a political story, drawing from a little-known chunk of history called "Operation Moses." In 1984, 80,000 Ethiopian Jews (known as "Falasha") were airlifted from their native land to Israel in an effort to save them from drought and famine. That incident is a starting point for "Va, vis et deviens," the tale of how 8-year-old Schlomo (Moshe Agazai) suddenly finds himself transported to Jerusalem and told to live as a Jew.
Schlomo and his mother were Christians, and only those who could prove their Jewish background were eligible for exit passes. But his mother had entrusted Schlomo to a Jewish woman who had lost her own little boy to illness and was willing to have Schlomo take his place, whatever his religion. Schlomo is baffled and terrified but his mother pushes him onto the tarmac with the sole instruction to "go, live and become" (hence the title) and he has no choice but to board the plane for Israel.
Once there and herded inside another refugee camp (this time with four walls and bathroom facilities) Schlomo has his first brush with western culture: wearing shoes, eating with utensils and watching TV. He also learns that he must behave and think like a Jew, which is no easy task for someone who has been taught that Jesus is God. Despite these social and religious implications, the story is intensely personal as it traces one boy's journey to adulthood as his identity sways between two countries and two families -- the mother he had left behind in Ethiopia and his foster parents that adopted him in Jerusalem.