What makes it different from others?

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

"Strangers No More" is a 40-minute documentary from 2010 that after some unsuccessful attempts brought directors Goodman and Simon (also spouses) eventually their Oscar. You don't see it too often though that a film wins an Oscar, but does not have another award or nomination just like this one here. Anyway, this is about an Israeli school, in which many many young children from all over the world are united, mostly from crisis countries, and the film mostly elaborates on how these children manage to learn a common language that helps them not only communicate verbally with their teachers, but also with each other obviously. A nice title reference in fact. And an interesting subject too. But I found the execution in detail so disappointing here. The film loses itself in random sequences many times that feel slightly staged and scripted when we see the school employees talk to parents of these kids for examply, of new comer kids. Or the music scenes near the end, which added absolutely nothing positive. The consequence is that this film which could have been a quality documentary at 90 minutes too never really gets under the surface and really never manages to make the statement or provide the insight that it could have. The subject, i.e. this school, definitely deserved better in my opinion. Quite a pity and I must say I cannot agree with the Oscar win here really. I would even say there's a good chance I'd eventually call it the weakest Best Documentary Short nominee from its year and it was so sad how this film really wanted to make an emotional statement at times, but came oh so short. Thumbs down. Watch something else instead.

It is hard to imagine the challenge facing a school that serves over 800 children from forty-eight countries, children who've known wars and strife, who saw their parents killed in front of their eyes, or children who had walked the desert, or who come to school hungry and whose parents live under the radar screen of the authorities as foreign workers fearful of being caught and deported.Yet Bialik-Rogozin school in Tel-Aviv, Israel not only educates them, but gives them love, compassion, and hope. In the open and accepting environment created by an outstanding principal Karen Tal and a team of exceptional teachers, students support one another, play together and chat in the new common language, Hebrew. Racial and color divides drop completely in a place where each child is "different" yet none is made to feel anything less than unique. Each child learns to put his or her hauntingly traumatic past behind, adjust to the present, and look to the future. Unlike other public schools in the city that close at 1 or 2 PM, Bialik-Rogozin is open late, until these children's parents are back from work. Furthermore, as in the case of Johannes, a war refugee who speaks only Tigrit, freedom acquires a new meaning when the boy is taken to the doctor where he is fitted with glasses, and his teacher gives him bicycles so he can ride around the neighborhood and connect with his new world. At a home visit, when the teacher learns of the father's visa problems, the school takes on the task of navigating the bureaucratic maze for the family. It is heart-warming to see that merely a few months after Johannes's arrival, he is an eager and engaged student who now translates and helps a new Tigrit-speaking child find his way around the school.And Esther, whose mother was killed in South Africa (yet who still believes that she will return,) is surprised when her new white-skinned friends admire her tightly braided hair, hug her, and seek her friendship. Soon, the articulate girl, now clothed and fed by the school, is helped to accept the finality of her mother's death, flourishes and becomes a leader.Nothing testifies to the success of the school as when the charming and determined Mohammed, who arrived from Darfur at age sixteen, not only catches up on a lifetime of lack of schooling, but upon graduation plans to return to his village and open a school there.The film avoids the underlining political questions about a vulnerable country opening its borders to refugees or a public school that supports illegal immigrants by integrating their children into the new culture. Instead, the film teaches the most humane lesson as it demonstrates how far compassion, goodwill, and enormous patience can help change the life of children from utter despair to a world of possibilities offered by a sense of self, security and education.It is easy to draw from the cliché of superlatives when describing an environment in which ethnic definitions and cultural differences—that all too often breed hatred—simply melt and fall away. Even the word "tolerance" is too trivial for the place that Lin Arison, the philanthropist who financed the documentary, calls "a miracle." The tight throat and tear-filled eyes of the audience provide a better sense of the emotional power of the film.And if "Strangers No More" fails to show Israel's detractors her true face, then they ought to turn their critical eyes toward themselves.# # # Author Talia Carner's next novel, JERUSALEM MAIDEN, will be published by HarperCollins June 2011. Please check www.TaliaCarner.com

I'm glad PlanktonRules enjoyed this charming documentary. But I was puzzled by his/her comment that 'despite being in Israel, the school is open to all religions, ethnicities and nations.' What sort of country does he/she think Israel is? Israelis come from almost every corner of the earth, from all over Europe and America, from Africa, from almost every Muslim country, from Russia. It's actually the most ethnically and religiously diverse country in the Middle East and beyond. It's important to stress this because the school emerges precisely out of this welcoming attitude and this ability to create a unifying culture out of so many. The little boy who could not speak Hebrew is far from the first. It was because so many Jews spoke so many languages that it was decided to revive Hebrew as a spoken language, and the Israeli achievement in doing so is inspiring.

It isn't often I get hopeful about the future, especially education and possibilities for underprivileged kids, but STRANGERS NO MORE is truly inspirational. I hope this well-made documentary gets consideration in the upcoming Oscar race.We are presented with a school year at Bialik-Rogozin School in Tel Aviv, focusing on the progress of half a dozen students, and showing in the process the caring, "go the extra mile" attitudes of the faculty and staff.Principal student covered is Johannes, an Eritrean refugee by way of Sudan. At age 12 he's had zero schooling and is painfully shy, let alone unable to communicate in either Hebrew or English at the school. We see his transformation, learning Hebrew, getting fitted with eyeglasses (a true necessity) and eventually serving as an interpreter in the Tigrit language to a newly admitted student later in the year. It's amazing and impressive progress.His dad is also featured, a mild-mannered guy who just wants to make a living and support his family. When he meets with the principal Karen Tal to help him through the red tape to secure a work visa, he comments in halting English that he's come here (from Eritrea/Ethiopia and later a Sudan refugee camp) to escape finally from war and violence, and Tal kindly reminds him, hey - Israel is right in the middle of it! Political issues such as the ongoing/never-ending Israeli/Palestine struggle are not alluded to specifically in the film, since that is not what it's about. As the title suggests, it is about making a true melting pot (I live in New York City, the symbolic world melting pot of sorts) where foreigners can be integrated into a true community and given new chances for self-realization. For K-12 education, clearly this school is a role model.Other key players, with winning stories, include Mohammed from Darfur, and the lovely Esther (with a movie star smile) from South Africa, both of whom qualify for the "Most Likely to Succeed" caption under their photos in a high school yearbook. Far more than the expected B'nai B'rith campaign film, STRANGERS carries a universal message.