MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Black’ an Illuminating Documentary

In 1989 Stewart Bialer, a science teacher at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Street Academy High School, escorted 11 of his students, all of them black, to a three-month stay at a kibbutz at the foot of the Golan Heights. Such an undertaking is obviously a natural subject for a documentary, and debuting filmmaker Madeleine Ali, who happens to be both black and Jewish, has done it justice with her lively and thoughtful “Black to the Promised Land” (at the Nuart Monday and Tuesday only).

Not surprisingly, the announcement of such an unusual venture became a media event in New York. This stung the young people, six boys and five girls ranging in age from 15 to 18, for they were instantly characterized as juvenile delinquents because the Street Academy is an alternative school for kids with problems.

In any event, they’re bright, articulate and outgoing, especially the girls, who have downright dazzling personalities--but their hosts in Israel are honest enough to admit that they were apprehensive about extending hospitality to “criminals.”

The new kibbutzniks from Brooklyn are instantly taken with the peace, quiet and safety of their new crime-free, drug-free environment but initially loathe the highly organized life and exhausting work there. They are expected to get up early and do either farm or factory labor, including, ironically, picking cotton--”I felt like Kinta Kunte,” says one girl.

They’ve also become media savvy: When early on in their visit they’re interviewed for Israeli TV, they flash megawatt smiles and insist they love kibbutz living.

Time is on the side of both the Israelis and the African-Americans as they get to know one another. The kids learn the value of structure and discipline in daily life and also the importance of people sharing with and caring for each other. Their experience is not all work and no play, and a highlight for most of the young people is a visit to Jerusalem on Easter.

At the same time they destroy negative stereotypes of American blacks that some of their hosts held and bring fresh life to the kibbutz. One young Israeli boy, expecting the worst “because of their environment,” remarks at their departure: “They’re great. They’re so cool. I love their style.”

That departure is bittersweet indeed. Some of the visitors flat out don’t want to leave their new friends, almost certainly the only white acquaintances they’ve ever had. One girl had remarked earlier, “It’s like a fairy tale, and I don’t want to wake up.”

“Black to the Promised Land” is Times-rated Mature for language.

‘Black to the Promised Land’

A First Run Features release of a Blues Productions presentation. Producers Renen Schorr, Shlomo Rogalin. Cinematographer Manu Kadosh. Editor Victor Nord. Music Branford Marsalis. Sound Yossi Vanon, Amir Boverman, Danny Natovich. Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes.

Times-rated Mature (for language).