Keeping it ‘real’ for 7 Days in Entebbe
Director José Padilha was committed to accurately portraying the events in his film, 7 Days in Entebbe. So, he and the producers enlisted technical and military advisers who were at Entebbe during the real life rescue mission in 1976, after the Air France Tel Aviv-Paris flight hijack.
“We talked to lots of people who were there at the time, including five or six soldiers who were part of the raid itself. The criteria was to run with direct witnesses, as opposed to people who said ‘I heard’ or ‘I believe’ it was like this. So I think we’re close to the truth,” says Padilha, a filmmaker with an elaborate history in documentaries.
For the thriller, the makers also had Amir Ofer, a former member of the Israeli Defense Force and a member of the raid team in 1976, present as a guiding light. “It’s still a movie, so there needed to be some additional material included, but he (Padilha) was looking to create the most authentic depiction of the operation itself,” says Ofer.
He assisted the actors with details like how to hold rifles, and aim at targets. “What was more important was to explain where we stopped, the way we ran from the vehicles to the terminal, where people died, and so on,” he says.
The criteria was to run with direct witnesses, as opposed to people who said ‘I heard’ or ‘I believe’ it was like this.
JOSÉ PADILHA DIRECTOR