PROMISES Documentary Competition

PROMISES goes where no other documentary on the heated Jerusalem conflict has gone-into the future, out of the mouths of babes. Shot between the Palestinian uprisings of 1995 and 2000, the film explores the issues through interviews with seven Israeli and Palestinian children who reside within 20 minutes of each other.

Born in the US and raised in Israel, director/producer B.Z. Goldberg was working as a journalist during the first Intifada when he became inspired to make this film, curious about what the unheard children were thinking and feeling. Visiting the children in their homes, Goldberg makes connections with each child that transcends his own position, eliciting unguarded and provocative insights from his young subjects.

What begins as an exploration of youth and disparate viewpoints becomes a project of hope when Goldberg moves from letting the children express themselves to asking if they would be interested in meeting each other. The results of this unprecedented gathering and its aftermath are both inspiring and heartbreaking.