Okay, so I watched this documentary called Promises today. It's a documentary about Israeli and Palestinian children and sort of investigates their perspectives on the Israel/Palestine.
Honestly, going into the film, I thought I knew what to expect--kids being all lovely-dovey and hopeful for peace and wondering why the adults just don't get along. This was not true. Throughout the course of the film, you see the obvious impact of the conflict in Israel-Palestine on the children and how it skews their perceptions towards fear and the dogmatism of their older generations.
Of course, given some time, their innocence does appear and they develop a willingness to engage each other. (This is on the DVD synopsis, so I'm not giving anything away). It's in that willingness and that changed perspective in allowing the feared to become human that causes hope to be born. Not to say that everything is peachy in the end; the documentary follows up in the DVD's extra features and the real world still affects the youth.
I wonder what happened to these kids-now-young-adults in the recent conflicts. When you put a real name and face and story to people in the situation, it becomes harder to ignore it.
Stylistically, the documentary is typical straightforward piece with lots of talking heads (mostly children) intercut with observational sequences. The directors/crew mostly stay out of the picture, but still can't help but getting involved, which is all right by me (I'm by no means an observational purist--in fact, I think it creates fiction out of non-fiction).
The film is remarkable in that it bothers to plead for sanity and peace (shalom/salaam) in a world that's torn apart by violence. Good viewing. 8/10.
Honestly, going into the film, I thought I knew what to expect--kids being all lovely-dovey and hopeful for peace and wondering why the adults just don't get along. This was not true. Throughout the course of the film, you see the obvious impact of the conflict in Israel-Palestine on the children and how it skews their perceptions towards fear and the dogmatism of their older generations.
Of course, given some time, their innocence does appear and they develop a willingness to engage each other. (This is on the DVD synopsis, so I'm not giving anything away). It's in that willingness and that changed perspective in allowing the feared to become human that causes hope to be born. Not to say that everything is peachy in the end; the documentary follows up in the DVD's extra features and the real world still affects the youth.
I wonder what happened to these kids-now-young-adults in the recent conflicts. When you put a real name and face and story to people in the situation, it becomes harder to ignore it.
Stylistically, the documentary is typical straightforward piece with lots of talking heads (mostly children) intercut with observational sequences. The directors/crew mostly stay out of the picture, but still can't help but getting involved, which is all right by me (I'm by no means an observational purist--in fact, I think it creates fiction out of non-fiction).
The film is remarkable in that it bothers to plead for sanity and peace (shalom/salaam) in a world that's torn apart by violence. Good viewing. 8/10.