Promises

Documentary filmmakers Justine Shapiro, B.Z. Goldberg and Carlos Bolado profile several Jewish and Palestinian children in Jerusalem and the West Bank, comparing and contrasting their lives and even bringing them together for some frivolous play and serious conversation. (The film was shot in the 1990s, before the Second Intifada.) The movie’s heart is obviously in the right place, and any effort to contribute to Arab-Israeli understanding is to be commended. But the uncomfortable fact is that it’s also long and dull. Like many documentaries shot on video, it has home-movie syndrome: The filmmakers don’t trim or shape it, and it goes on long after its point is made. Give Shapiro, Goldberg and Bolado credit for good intentions, but there’s nothing here they couldn’t have done in half an hour.