February 9 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
2025 ∙ Documentary ∙ 74 minutes∙ Hebrew ∙ Tom Shoval
75 Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin: Berlinale Special
This moving retrospection 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 had been held hostage in Gaza for 738 days. 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.
Presenting Partner: Jewish National Fund USA
SPECIAL FEATURE
SHORT FILMS
Days Between Rest (11 minutes)
by Peter Decherney
The Sacred Society (12 minutes)
by Benny Zelkowicz
The Mayerson JCC Jewish & Israeli Film Festival presents a diverse, inspiring lineup of award-winning films and engaging, educational programming that connects to Jewish and Israeli stories. To see the whole 2026 lineup, click here.
