December 13, 2001

8:41 AM

Promises"What is it really like to live in Jerusalem? PROMISES offers touching and fresh insight into the Middle East conflict when filmmakers Shaprio, Goldberg and Bolado travel to this complex and charged city to see what seven children — Palestinian and Israeli — think about war, peace and just growing up." airs tonite (check your local listings) i've seen a few POV documentaries before and they were pretty good.
posted by kliuless (3 comments total)

this is a remarkable film (which i saw at the san francisco jewish film festival this year and plan to watch again tonight). the film showcases seven children within a 20 minute radius in jerusalem, east jerusalem, a neighboring palestinian refugee camp and a nearby settlement in the occupied territories. the children - even at the very young ages that they are at the time of the film - span the political spectrum - religious and secular israelis, religious and secular palestinians, right and left wing on both sides. and while it's certainly "touching", it's not the least bit sentimental in the way films about children often can be. you can see more about the film at the promises project site.
posted by judith at 9:01 AM on December 13, 2001

I caught this film on Sunday at the Screening Room in NYC. It is wonderful wonderful and touching. It really clarifies the plight of the Palestinians in a way that the US media has not. I feel for everyone in that area, but I found the perspectives of the liberal Israelies and the Palestinians to really hit home. They do not want this violence and they seemed to have a lot in common in that they are suffering for the acts of more radical factions in their communities.

This kind of thing is a big topic right now for liberals in the US. Oppression without representation in a fascist-leaning democracy where patriotism is equated to total solidarity with more-radical-every-day conservative POVs.
posted by n9 at 9:48 AM on December 13, 2001

man and i thought hoop dreams was revealing. getting palestinian and israeli kids to talk to each other seemed so subversive.

the border guard asking if anyone spoke arabic and hebrew was classic. the kids burping together was the perfect counterpoint.
posted by kliuless at 9:42 PM on December 13, 2001