43 years to the day following the Sabena hijacking a new docu-drama Sabena Hijacking – My Version is set to begin a journey of screenings around the world before being broadcast in Israel later this year on Keshet broadcasting.
Recounting the events which took place on 8 May 1972 when a Belgian aircraft, flown by a British pilot hijacked by Black September (the armed wing of the Palestinian Liberalisation Organization), this powerful docu-drama includes exclusive access to three revered Israeli political leaders who were in charge of the rescue effort at the time, as well as the only surviving hijacker.
Current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who led the special unit of soldiers (disguised as technicians) which stormed the plane is featured, alongside the other key political decision makers at the time, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Prime Minister, President and Nobel Prize winner Shimon Peres. Therese Halsa, one of the four hijackers who was a girl of just 18 at the time, also gives her version of events, following release from a 220 year prison sentence of which she served 13 years.
Keshet International (KI), the global distribution arm of Keshet Media Group, holds rights to the docu-drama worldwide and will distribute this as the first of several TV projects focused on the elite unit of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Sabena Hijacking – My Version was created and produced by Nati Dinnar, in cooperation with Keshet Broadcasting, United King Films (Beaufort, Footnote, Lebanon) and the Israeli film fund for cinema. It is directed by Rani Sa’ar and written by Moshe Zonder.
Sabena Hijacking – My Version fuses interviews with archive material and dramatic reenactments of the tense scenes inside the aircraft and the control tower as the British pilot, Reginald Levy, was held at gunpoint while hijackers threatened to explode hand grenades unless 300 prisoners were released. It gives insight to the 30 nerve-wrecking hours of captivity leading to the heroic rescue attempt which saw all but one passenger escape unharmed. The result is a captivating, fast-paced film full of suspense, which poses significant political and historical questions that are not only still important, but have shaped the Israel of today.
