Said Mr. Lainer “We came to Harlem to celebrate diversity, celebrate this neighborhood’s wonderful culture, and most importantly, we couldn’t think of a better place to share the story of ‘Strangers No More.’ The fabric that makes up Israeli society is strong, not in spite of its diversity, but because we are diverse.”
While directors and producers Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon took home the coveted Academy Award, the true story here is the amazing journey of the children at Tel Aviv’s Bialik-Rogozin School.
Almost all of them being refugees, they fled war-torn nations and economic hardship to make a better life for themselves in Israel. Every year, the school brings in children with heartbreaking backgrounds, who have to not only overcome their traumatic early childhood but assimilate into Israeli society. The students are from 48 countries from around the world, many of them in sub-Saharan Africa, where they spent years crossing into Israel by foot, traveling from one refugee camp to another, escaping both the elements and the destruction of war and genocide. Many of them arrived in Israel without a parent, if any at all. With many of them having never stepped foot in a classroom, and no knowledge of Hebrew, the odds could not be more stacked against them. But despite their hardships, it’s clear watching the film that the teachers and principle have enormous hearts. They go beyond “teaching” to truly welcome them as family. Said the film’s director Karen Goodman, the “message of hope–despite the trauma of their backgrounds–captured my heart.”
From South Africa to Ethiopia to Korea, the children at Bialik-Rogozin don’t look like your “average” Israeli. And that’s part of the point the filmmakers wanted to show. Israel has tremendous diversity, and the story of this school, of these children seeking freedom, could easily have been made about the United States.
In a poignant moment during the film, a father tells the principle “we came to Israel so we could live in a place with peace,” to which she responded “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we don’t quite have peace here.” While a light-heated moment, it serves as a reminder of just how much hardship the families had to go through to get to Israel.
The film's directors and producers along with "Oscar"
Following the screening of the film to a large audience at the Harlem Stage Theatre, the film’s directors and producers were on hand (with the actual Oscar in tow) to engage in a discussion with the audience. Many in the audience were shocked to discover that though the school receives outside aid, it is entirely public. If you live in that certain neighborhood in southern Tel Aviv, you go there for free. Probably the most exciting portion of the evening was when director Kirk Simon let everyone take their own pictures with the Oscar, joking that he “should charge everyone 10 cents.” Had he done so, he probably would have made a pretty penny. For many of us, it was the closest will ever get to one of the world’s most prestigious awards. But again, the true heroes are in the documentary itself, and the school continues to make enormous progress.
According to Simon, graduates at the school are now passing Israel’s national exams at over 70 per cent. Just a few years ago, that number was in the 30′s. Even more astounding, their test scores are actually above Israel’s national average! This is unbelievable considering they all arrived in Israel with no Hebrew knowledge and little if any education.
For those wondering where many of the children are today, some received scholarships to Israeli Universities, and most importantly, none of them have been deported, all going through appropriate channels to live in Israel legally. You can catch the full documentary when it airs on HBO in early December, and it will also be “On Demand.”
