Participation Paper #6

Taylor Holzfaster

Intercultural Communications

2/26/15

Participation Paper #6

           

“Promises”

            I decided to write my participation paper over the documentary that we watched in class on February 26. It is about seven kids that all lived 20 min from each other, but each lived completely different lifestyles. The documentary is called “Promises” and include the child Mahmoud, Shlomo, Sanabl, Faraj, Moishe, and twins Yarko and Daniel.

            The documentary allows the boys to speak for themselves and explain each of their lives personally as they grow up. The point of the documentary is not to explain them, but brings out funny, sad, and exciting events that happen in each of their lives.

            People that watch this film are put into the shoes of the Jerusalem’s children and have the chance to get a sense of their everyday lifestyles and how each child has different qualities and meanings in life.

            In my opinion, I really enjoyed this documentary because it showed that these seven boys were multi-dimensional people, and not just the stereotypical people that most would assume they are. Something that was very impressive to me is that they are all very young and have such an amazing outlook on life and things that happen in their personal lives and families as a whole.

            You can tell by the way the children interact with the camera and each other that they loved the experience of being able to tell their own stories and to have the chance to experience something such as making a film.

            After watching the documentary in class, it made me reflect on how thankful I am to have been able to grow up in the family and environment that I did. Many people are not as fortunate as others and there are times that I feel people take that for granted.