Promises (2002)

Several Jewish and Palestinian children are followed for three years and put in touch with each other, in this alternative look at the Jewish-Palestinian conflict. The three filmmakers followed a group of seven local children between 1995 and 1998. They all have a totally different background. These seven children tell their own story about growing up in Jerusalem. Through this portrait of their generation, we see how deep rooted and almost insoluble the problems of the Middle East have become. While the children only live 20 minutes away from each other, they live in completely different worlds and know hardly anything about each other. Their picture of the world is formed by the adults around them and the circumstances in which they live. As a result, the older they get, the bigger the physical, historical and emotional gap between them grows. When the protagonists speak out in an epilogue a couple of years later, it becomes apparent that all have lost their childlike innocence.