A Letter to David
Synopsis
Filmmaker Tom Shoval crafts a personal cinematic letter to David Cunio, who was abducted by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, and has been held hostage in Gaza ever since. Ten years ago, David and his twin brother Eitan starred in Shoval’s award-winning debut feature film Youth (Berlinale 2013), which focused on the powerful bond between brothers and, in a tragic and unimaginable twist of fate, revolved around a kidnapping. Through unedited behind-the-scenes footage and audition tapes from Youth, Shoval builds a multi-layered documentary that explores the inexplicable connections between life and cinema, memory and reality, and the catastrophic consequences of war.
Credits
Director(s)
Tom Shoval
Producer(s)
Alona Refua, Maya Fischer, Roy Bareket, Nancy Spielberg
Executive Producer(s)
Roi Kurland, Gal Greenspan, Len Blavatnik, Emily Blavatnik, Jay Ruderman, Rinat Klein Maron, Dorit Hessel, Moshe Edery
Script
Tom Shoval
Cinematography
Yaniv Linton
Editor
Margarita Linton, Maya Kenig
Original Music
Asher Goldschmidt
Original Language
Hebrew
Subtitles
English, Hebrew
Production Companies
Green Productions, Playmount Productions
Produced with the help of
HOT8, The Yehoshua Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts, The New Fund for Cinema and Television, The Weil-Bloch Foundation, The Blavatnik Family Foundation, Boston Rose, Jewish Story Partners
Broadcaster
HOT8 – Documentary Channel
Sound Design
Itzik Cohen
Editorial Advisors
Noit Geva, Joëlle Alexis
Festival Highlights
Berlinale International Film Festival, Germany, Berlinale Special, 2025
Reviews
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"A haunting blend of fact and fiction."
- The Hollywood Reporter
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"Edited and filmed with poetic and cinematic artistry."
- Haaretz
