Every parent knows that children are truly the stuff of life; and a child's joy and pain become the parent's joy and pain. It is therefore both joyful and painful to watch Promises, an Academy Award-nominated documentary that highlights the ups and downs of a group of Palestinian and Israeli children.

Through Promises, audiences are introduced to Yarko, Daniel, Shlomo, Moishe, Mahmoud, Sanabel and Faraj. As the names suggest, the first four children listed are Israeli and the last three are Palestinian. All seven were filmed over the course of two years starting when they were around the age of 11. They represent various lifestyles and hold varying views on the current state of affairs in Palestine.

What makes Promises such an interesting film is that the children that were chosen by the filmmakers are all so very articulate. So throughout the film moviegoers feel as if they are listening to experts…experts on what it is like to be a Palestinian or Israeli child at this time in history. Yet at the same time, audiences are warmed by the innocence of childhood that peers through every so often in both humorous and touching ways.

Promises follows the rather simple documentary formula of the personal profile.

The film begins with Yarko and Daniel, twin boys from a secular Jewish family. As secular Jews, the two have few strong opinions with regard to the religious issues that underlie the current conflict. For them, their greatest concern is being able to live life peacefully. So secular are they, that at one point while visiting the Wailing Wall, one of the twins says, "I'd rather visit a Palestinian village than be here with these religious people."

Mahmoud is a Jerusalem Arab and one of the more outspoken subjects of the film. Additionally, he is quite religiously oriented and is adamant about Jerusalem belonging to Muslims. One of the more touching moments in the film comes when he visits the Al-Aqsa mosque to pray. While there he says, "When I enter Al-Aqsa I feel it so deep in my heart."

Shlomo is the son of a Rabbi and lives in Jerusalem. Training to become a Rabbi like his father, Shlomo is very religious, though not rabidly opposed to the very existence of Palestinians. His concern is the ability to do his religious duties; and as long as Palestinians aren't impeding him in his progress, he seems content with coexisting with them at some level. One of the film's more humorous moments comes when Shlomo engages in a spontaneous burping contest with an anonymous Palestinian boy who just wanders into the camera's view.

Sanabel lives in the Deheishe refugee camp in the West Bank. What makes her story particularly of note is the fact that during the time the film was shot, she was fatherless. This is because her father is a prominent figure in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). As such he was jailed and held without charges for months on end. So moviegoers get to see first hand through Sanabel what impact these detentions have on Palestinian children.

Faraj, also a Deheishe refugee, is the most emotional subject of the film; and he has a right be. Shortly before the film was made, Faraj lost his good friend Bassam to an Israeli bullet. While throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, 12-year-old Bassam was hit with one bullet in the head and died. The event impacted Faraj greatly and his commentary often reflects this. At one point he notes, "In the Intifada, the stone almost liberated one half of Palestine."

Moishe is from a Jewish settler family living in the Beit El settlement in the West Bank, which is fenced off from the surrounding area with barbed wire and guarded constantly. As a settler, his view towards Palestinians are rather negative; and he is somewhat the opposite of Mahmoud. "God promised us the land of Israel and Arabs came and took it," says Moishe, who scrolls through a copy of the Torah for a citation noting God's promise to the Jews. "If I could make my own future all the Arabs would fly away."

The two main highlights of the film occur somewhat serendipitously. At one point, Yarko and Daniel express the desire to possibly meet with Faraj, who shares with them a love of sports (the twins play volleyball and Faraj runs track). Seizing the moment, the filmmakers put the proposition to Faraj who is at first hesitant but later agrees to a meeting. However, because of Israeli checkpoints and the need to have proper credentials, Faraj cannot venture into Israeli territory. Instead the twins are escorted to Deheishe where they meet Faraj, Sanabel and some of their friends. The day they spend together is filled with regular kid stuff (soccer, wrestling, eating, laughing) as well as more thought provoking moments, such as discussion amongst the kids concerning the state of affairs. There are smiles, there are tears, and it is all quite moving.

The other highlight comes when the filmmakers smuggle Faraj and his grandmother out of Deheishe and into the area that used to be their family's village. Gripping the old key to her house, Faraj's grandmother tours the ruins of what was once a lush, sleepy little village, complete with an almond tree at her front door step. His grandmother explains to Faraj that the Israelis chased their family from the village and then razed each and every building so that they would have nothing to which to return. One is almost moved to tears as she laments, "Could anyone taste this pure air and then go to Deheishe?" Then sensing that she might not be able to return to that place for some time, Faraj's grandmother says, "I want to pray here" and proceeds to perform a short prayer while Faraj waits for her. It is painful to watch.

In all, Promises is a very good film. The only criticism one might have is that it is very Israeli in its perspective; but that's because two of the filmmakers are Jewish Americans. As a result, its approach is not atypical of liberal Jewish perspectives on the situation in Palestine. But this does not in any way diminish the film's impact. It simply means that there is not a strong Muslim or Palestinian perspective forwarded in the film.

In the end, however, the children do more than an adequate job of brining forth a range of perspectives that exist in Palestine today. In doing so, they are the film's centerpieces and make Promises a success that should contend well at the Oscars.

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