SPECIAL PROJECTS
A Letter to David
(A Letter to David)
74 mins
Year of Production: 2025
Production Country: Israel / USA
Hebrew with English subtitles
Written & Directed By Tom Shoval
Broadcaster: HOT8 – Documentary Channel
CREW
Producers: Alona Refua, Maya Fischer, Roy Bareket, Nancy Spielberg
Executive Producers: Roi Kurland, Gal Greenspan, Len Blavatnik, Emily Blavatnik, Jay Ruderman, Rinat Klein Maron, Dorit Hessel, Moshe Edery
Cinematographer: Yaniv Linton
Editors: Margarita Linton, Maya Kenig
Original Score: Asher Goldschmidt
Sound designer: Itzik Cohen
Online Editor: Yoav Raz
Post Producer: Shelly Levy Russo
Production Companies: Green Productions (Israel) Playmount Productions (USA)
Produced with the support 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
Synopsis
A Letter to David is a personal cinematic letter from filmmaker Tom Shoval to David Cunio, who was taken by Hamas from the Nir Oz kibbutz 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 that film, Shoval creates a multi-layered documentary that explores profound questions about the inexplicable connections between life and cinema, memory and reality, and the catastrophic consequences of war
Director's Biography
Tom Shoval
Israeli film-maker and screenwriter Tom Shoval has won rave reviews for his sharp visual style and storytelling abilities. His debut feature, Youth (2013), a social drama and thriller, premiered at the Berlinale and was, among other awards, named Best Film at the Jerusalem Film Festival. Alejandro González Iñárritu, two times Academy Award® winner, has personally chosen Shoval as his protégé and produced Shoval's feature film Shake Your Cares Away, starring Berenice Bejo which won the main award at the Jerusalem Film Festival 2021. He wrote and directed a ten-episode TV series – A music drama, The Echo of Your Voice for the Israeli Kan 11 channel. The series was selected in official competition in the "Series Mania" festival and won the prestigious Acting award. Shoval penned June Zero for director Jake Paltrow to be released in the US in 2024. Tom is currently in post-production on the third feature-length film he wrote and directed- Life without Credit, to be delivered during 2025
Festivals
Official Selection - Berlinale 2025 (Berlinale Special)