An Israeli jazz pianist and Czech director collaborated to create a short film featuring Israeli Jewish, Muslim, and Christian children in order to ask a simple question: “Can you tell the difference?”

The video premiered on January 9 and is set to the song “Our Journey Together,” which was written during the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas “as an expression of hope from within [a] difficult reality,” according to Israeli artist Guy Mintus.

By filming the smiling faces of Israeli kids of various faiths, the project sought to highlight commonalities that transcend religious and political divides.

“The different interactions and responses we’ve gotten along the trip have become the meat and bones of the video,” Mintus explained. “During our visits in Abu Gosh, Ramle, Zefat, Be’er Sheva and Kfar Kara, we’ve got to film the portraits of over 100 kids of all backgrounds.”

The pictures drawn by the children as they listened to Mintus’ song were animated by his Czech collaborator, Jakub Cermaque, “as sort of a counter-story,” Mintus said.

“We the artists, the musicians, we don’t live in a bubble,” Mintus told Israel’s Army Radio during the film’s premiere. “We live in reality, in a complex world that is sometimes difficult, that is sometimes not pretty. It’s important to open our eyes and ears to what’s going on around us, and not to disconnect from it.”

[Photo: Guy Mintus Music / YouTube]