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Academy award-winning documentary hands round its statuettes at Tel Aviv school, despite many pupils facing deportation There’s not much that is usual about the Bialik Rogozin School in Tel Aviv – so the pupils took it in their stride when the end of term was celebrated with two Oscar statuettes being handed around. This year’s Academy award for best documentary was won by Strangers No More, which tells the story of students from the school, 70% of whom are immigrants, many from the world’s most dangerous countries. On Monday, the film’s directors, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon, brought their Oscars to share with the schoolchildren and to allow them to bask in a little reflected glory. With 832 pupils from 48 countries, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, the children might not share that much in common, but one thing was for sure – they all wanted to get their hands on the Oscar. “This is a tribute to the miracle that is Bialik Rogozin. The moment we came here, we found love and we are still in love with this school and everyone who has found a home here,” said Goodman as the school celebrated with readings and awards while some of the girls nervously carried out dance routines, interrupted by the occasional misstep and technical glitch. “If we received an Oscar, it’s because these kids opened their hearts to us. All we did was capture it,” said Goodman’s co-director Simon. Many of the students face deportation and the government is due to make its decision on their futures. “They might postpone it but it still leaves the kids living in fear,” said Simon. In recent years, Israel has received 35,000 asylum seekers and refugees from across Africa. It also has tens of thousands of foreign workers who have overstayed their visas, some of whom have children born in Israel. Non-Jewish migration has created confusion in Israel. The ministry of the interior, headed by a minister from the ultra-orthodox Shas party, is keen to cut the numbers but others are proud that Israel has become a refuge. The film documents a year in the life of the school, focusing on three students: Esther Aikpehae, who fled South Africa after her mother was murdered; Johannes Mulugeta from Eritrea, who had not previously attended school; and Mohammed Adam, who walked to Israel from Darfur in Sudan after seeing his grandmother and father murdered in front of him. All three have temporary residence permits. The school is due to receive Israel’s national education prize from the president, Shimon Peres, but headteacher Karen Tal pointed out it was not easy running a school where so many pupils were worried about their future. “We have a deal with the pupils: we keep the routine and aim for educational achievement which will give them confidence at a time when they have no roots. The other side is that we are very active in agitating on behalf of the students. I speak to prominent people all the time and we have set up an action committee and hosted guests from all over the world,” she said. Goodman believes the school is an example to others all over the world that struggle to provide good education in multicultural environments. “How can you take kids from 48 countries and and educate them? The answer is, give them the right opportunity and the right atmosphere and they will come together and learn. Here, being different is the norm,” she said. Tal’s vision for the school and the country is of a society based on shared responsibility. “In our vision, all students who come to Israel, whether they are Jewish, Muslim or Christian, have made a statement that they want to be part of that society and all that means. If that means military service or civil service, then that is part of our duty.” International education news Israel Middle East Oscars Oscars 2011 Religion Judaism Islam Christianity Children Conal Urquhart guardian.co.uk