Above and Beyond
| Year | 2014 |
| Starring | Coleman Goldstein, George Lichter, Gideon Lichtman, Harold Livingston, Leon Frankel, Lou Lenart |
| Director(s) | Roberta Grossman |
| Genre(s) | Documentary |
| Runtime | 87 min |
| Producer(s) | Nancy Spielberg |
| Writer(s) | Sophie Sartain |
In 1948 a group of World War II pilots volunteered to fight for Israel in the War of Independence. As members of Machal (volunteers from abroad) this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war, preventing the possible annihilation of Israel at the very moment of its birth, but also laid the groundwork for the Israeli Air Force. The film follows the pilots on their circuitous route from the US – where they met and trained in secret – to Panama, Rome, and even behind the Iron Curtain, where they flew versions of the very Nazi planes they had tried to shoot down in World War II. Recalling the terrifying first days of the war when Arab armies advanced perilously close to Tel Aviv, the film reveals how under-equipped the Israelis were and how critical the actions of a handful of young American men were for the country’s survival.