Political Film Review: Promises

The first seeds of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were sown so long ago that very few know when it actually started. Everybody has different opinions on who started the fighting, who's fault it is, and when things took a turn for the worse. 100 different turning points, and two clear sides. Two nations promised a homeland, each with their own rightful claim, wishing for freedom and safety and peace. The film Promises follows seven children born and raised in the center of this conflict. Moishe, Shlomo, and the twins Daniel and Yarko are Jews living in Israel. Mahmoud is an Arab Israeli living in the Palestinian quarter of Jerusalem. Sanabel and Faraj both live in the occupied Palestinian territories. They are all less than twenty minutes away from each other. Director BZ Goldberg interviewed the children about their lives, and how the conflict affected them and their families personally. They told stories of fear, pain, and hatred all beyond their years, but also of joy and hope for a peaceful future. B.Z. got the kids to meet, and they learned important lessons about how they really weren't all that different from each other after all. 

Promises is a wonderful movie that shows that even in the most desperate of situations, human emotions survive, and perhaps there is still a chance to prevail if only more people from all viewpoints would sit down and get to know their neighbors.