Decade after debut, director puts hostage David Cunio back on big screen at Berlinale
Award-winning filmmaker Tom Shoval screens ‘A Letter to David’ at Berlin film festival as a show of support for the Nir Oz captive who starred in his movie ‘Youth’ 12 years ago
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
In 2013, filmmaker Tom Shoval brought his first feature movie, “Youth,” to the Berlinale, Berlin’s International Film Festival. The film, starring David Cunio and his twin Eitan, revolved around the bond between the brothers and their decision to carry out a kidnapping.
Over a decade later, David Cunio and another brother, Ariel Cunio, were themselves victims of kidnapping, by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and today both remain hostage in Gaza, where they have been held for nearly 500 days.
Shoval will be back at the Berlinale on Friday, putting Cunio on screen again, this time in “A Letter to David” about his personal connection with the Kibbutz Nir Oz resident.
The documentary includes unedited behind-the-scenes footage and audition tapes from “Youth,” and explores the connections between life and cinema, memory and reality, and the catastrophic consequences of war.
Shoval told The Hollywood Reporter that when he heard that the Cunios were taken hostage, he wanted to do whatever he could to draw attention to their plight.
David Cunio, his wife Sharon Cunio and their twin three-year-old daughters were all taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, along with Sharon’s sister and her daughter. On the same day, David’s younger brother Ariel Cunio and his girlfriend, Arbel Yehoud, were taken captive as well.
Sharon Cunio, her daughters and her sister and her daughter, were all released in November 2023. Yehoud was released at the end of January. The Cunio brothers remain in captivity.
David and Sharon’s own relationship goes back to “Youth,” for which she handled press relations. The pair fell in love while making the award-winning movie.
As the Berlinale opened Thursday night, a public vigil for David Cunio and Ariel Cunio was held down the road from the ceremony.
There were also plans for several prominent guests to hold a tribute for David Cunio inside the ceremony, and an open letter to the Berlinale crowd was signed by 170 artists, including actors Iris Berben and Jennifer Jason Leigh, as well as directors Ari Folman and Hagai Levy.
“A Letter to David” includes Nancy Spielberg, sister of Steven Spielberg, among its producers.
Other Israeli participants at the Berlinale include Dana Blankstein Cohen, executive director of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, who is taking part in a panel about female leadership in cinema.
