Introduction

When Heroes Fly (Hebrew: בשבילה גיבורים עפים, romanized: Bishvila Giborim Afim, lit. ’Heroes fly for her’) is an Israeli drama television series that was first broadcast in Israel on Keshet 12 in May 2018.

The series was created by Omri Givon and loosely based on the novel of the same name by Amir Gutfreund. It uses flashbacks to account for the differing time periods.

The series was also adapted into an English version for the United States market titled Echo 3 by Apple TV+, which aired in 2022.

Outline

Four former IDF veterans who served together in the 2006 Lebanon War are reunited for a rescue mission in Colombia, where one of them lives, to find Yaeli (Ninet Tayeb), a woman once believed to have died in a car accident after the war.

Cast

• Tomer Kapon as Aviv Danino
• Ninet Tayeb as Yael ‘Yaeli’ Ashkenazi
• Michael Aloni as Dotan ‘Himmler’ Friedman
• Nadav Netz as Dov ‘Dubi’ Ashkenazi
• Moshe Ashkenazi as Yakir ‘Benda’ Ben-David
• Vanessa Chaplot as Maria
• Oded Fehr as Moshiko Boaron
• Dan Mor as Azoulay
• Yael Sharoni as Noga Avrahami
• Rita Shukrun as Aviv’s mother
• Gil Franc as Elisha (“Padre Palido”)
• Muli Shulman as Ronen Levinger
• Assaf Ben-Shimon as Yaki
• Nili Rogel as Rona Ashkenazi
• Micha Celektar as Avi

Production

Creator Omri Givon had already met Amir Gutfreund, the writer of the original novel, years before Gutfreund’s death in 2015. Givon spent eight months writing the final script and decided to concentrate on adapting the final part of the novel that deals with Yaeli’s rescue. Givon also decided to replace Chicago with Colombia as the site of the rescue mission so that he could focus on the drug trade industry.

Filming

Givon decided to film in Colombia due to the budget constraints of filming in his original choice, San Diego. Filming also took place in Tel Aviv.

Release

The series won Best Series at the first Canneseries Festival in April 2018.

When Heroes Fly Series

9 episodes when shown on Keshet and 10 episodes when shown on Netflix.

• Episode 01: Resurrection.
• Episode 02: HELP.
• Episode 03: The Pale Father.
• Episode 04: Ministering Angels.
• Episode 05: There’s Been an Accident.
• Episode 06: Ashes to Ashes.
• Episode 07: Noga.
• Episode 08: Tattooed.
• Episode 09: Pillar of Smoke.
• Episode 10: Roger and Out.

Keshet has apparently commissioned a second season, although that was reported back in 2019.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s):
  • Omri Givon … (9 episodes, 2018)
• Producer(s):
  • Nadia Celis … permits pufa (10 episodes, 2018)
  • Adolfo Delgado … leadman producer (10 episodes, 2018)
  • Johan Fandiño … runner (10 episodes, 2018)
  • Alejandro Segura … field producer (10 episodes, 2018)
  • Ximena Sotomayor … line producer (10 episodes, 2018)
  • Jonathan Doweck … producer (9 episodes, 2018)
  • Eitan Mansuri … producer (9 episodes, 2018)
  • Kfir Weiss … executive producer (9 episodes, 2018)
• Writer(s):
  • Omri Givon … (creator) (9 episodes, 2018)
  • Omri Givon … (screenplay) (9 episodes, 2018)
• Music:
  • Roi Nassi … (10 episodes, 2018)
• Cinematography:
  • Nitai Netzer … (9 episodes, 2018)
• Editor(s):
  • Amit Ginton … (9 episodes, 2018)
  • Amir Winkler … (9 episodes, 2018)
  • Asaf Zakar … (9 episodes, 2018)
• Production:
  • Spiro Films
• Distributor(s):
  • Keshet International (worldwide, 2018).
  • Netflix (2019, video).
• Release Date: 08 April 2018 to 09 June 2018.
• Running Time: 45 minutes (Keshet) and 50 minutes (Netflix).
• Rating: Unkown.
• Country: Israel.
• Language: Hebrew and Spanish.

Video Link(s)