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PROMISES Send This Review to a Friend
The seemingly impossible situation between Israelis and Palestinians is tempered with a ray of hope by "Promises," a documentary by Justine Shapiro, B. Z. Goldberg and Carolos Bolado, that explores the effect of the warfare and hatred on children in both camps.
What the filmmakers did was interview Israeli and Palestinian youngsters to get their thoughts about their lives and the issues at hand, then arrange confrontations between them. What is so poignant in the face-to-face sessions is that one can see the possibility of people being able to live together in peace if Israelis and the Palestinians can ever get past the military and ideological conflict.
In meeting these youngsters audiences encounter the prejudices carried as a result of respective indoctrination and experience. One can project how they may think in the future, already predetermined in some ways because of what has happened to them thus far. The interviews were conducted in 1997, 1998 and 2000, thus showing a progression toward the present. Of course, audiences will also bring their own biases to the film.
I came away with a measure of hope, but also pessimism, given the larger circumstances that engulf youths like those met in the film no matter what their personal attitudes are. This is a worthwhile effort for bringing you the nearest thing to direct contact with these interesting and in many ways trapped young people. A Cowboy Pictures release.
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