Friends From France

Odessa, 1979. Posing as a newly married couple, Carole and Jérôme, two cousins from France, cross the Iron Curtain to help “refuseniks”—Jews persecuted by the Soviet regime for wanting to leave the country. Together they explore the dangerous world of Breshnev’s Russia, filled with many dark undercurrents—a place where it’s dangerous to trust anyone.

While idealistic Carole is motivated by political commitment and extols the virtues of Israel as their home, Jérôme wants to settle in America and came on the trip with his cousin for one reason—he’s madly in love with her. Jérôme’s attitude towards helping the refuseniks changes when he is given a book by Viktor, a physicist monitored by the KGB, who dreams of finding his wife in Israel.