Boys will be boys. And even in the land of milk and honey — where we Americans like to imagine that every nice Jewish boy is groomed to become a nice Jewish doctor — the truth is that just like here in the States, teenagers in low-income communities are often up to no good, winding up running around with the wrong kind of crowd.
In the new documentary “It Kinda Scares Me” screening May 26 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts as part of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, Israeli filmmaker Tomer Heymann turns his cameras on himself and a gang of teenage boys — whose criminal records boast charges from graffiti to assault — he is counseling. In their hometown of Azur, a run-down suburb of Tel Aviv, the boys and Tomer meet regularly at a community center hangout.
In his effort to create a supportive and meaningful gathering place for the teens, Tomer guides them through exercises that he hopes will lead to fruitful self-disclosure. Despite their pubescent bravado and fierce posturing, the boys are surprisingly willing to take part in almost any organized activity offered them — from soccer to modern interpretive dance to script-writing. Their raunchy, misogynistic joke-telling quickly gives way to sensitive musings when the boys are asked to put pen to paper and write a few lines about their lives.
“We aren’t just a bunch of hooligans, “says Yakov. “We can give and we can achieve.” When Tomer asks “What hurts you in life?” one boy simply answers, “That I’m alive.”
As the boys start to show interest in developing their own narratives and performing a play about their lives, they become resentful of Tomer’s reluctance to share more about himself. Taking a calculated risk, Tomer finally reveals he is gay. The rowdy gang is only momentarily stunned into silence before they become engrossed in a debate about the imagined details of Tomer’s sex life.
While Tomer does a commendable job of documenting what proves to be a challenging revelation for the teens, their path toward acceptance is a long one and their reactions are often more bombastic than brooding.
As far as character development goes, the film leaves something to be desired. Rather than learning from the intensive teamwork and commitment that staging a show requires, the boys coast through the process. We keep hearing that the community is overwhelmingly impressed with the group’s hard work, but we never really find out why.
“It Kinda Scares Me” is not so much a coming of age story as it is a revealing glimpse of the sometimes misguided and haphazard efforts made by civic governments to provide support for troubled teens. As an audience, we are left to wonder if the city of Azur’s money and goodwill might be better spent on improving the community’s juvenile court system or developing more aggressive outreach programs for younger children who have not yet begun to act out.
Though poignant at times, the film’s overall message is tough to unsnarl. Despite the boys’ enduring friendship with Tomer, they still have trouble stifling the urge to make homophobic wisecracks when he is out of earshot. Sexual politics aside, there is no question as to whether Tomer’s commitment and sincerity positively affected the lives of his protégés. But as the credits roll and the subtitles tell of each boy’s ensuing prison stint or army deferral, we are left to wonder: Could more have been done to help these troubled teens? That is the kinda scary question that resonates at this film’s core.
“It Kinda Scares Me” by Tomer Heymann, presented by the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 26. $7 regular/$6 JFF members, seniors, students and Center members.