The Berlin movie pageant premiered a documentary about an Israeli hostage held by Hamas on Friday because it seeks to maneuver on from controversy over its stance on Gaza eventually 12 months’s version.
“A Letter to David” by Israeli filmmaker Tom Shoval is a tribute to David Cunio, who was taken by Palestinian militant group Hamas from the Nir Oz kibbutz on October 7, 2023, and continues to be being held hostage in Gaza.
Shoval had beforehand featured Cunio and his twin brother Eitan in his award-winning debut function movie “Youth”, which premiered on the Berlinale in 2013.
In the brand new movie, screening within the pageant’s Special class, Shoval makes use of excerpts from “Youth” alongside unseen footage and interviews with Cunio’s relations to create a tribute to his lacking good friend.
They embody David’s twin brother Eitan, his mom, and his spouse Sharon Cunio and twin daughters — who had been additionally captured by Hamas fighters on October 7 however launched after 52 days.
Shoval mentioned he had determined to make the movie as a result of he didn’t need David to be perceived as simply “a hostage you see on a poster”.
“He is also a real person. He was an actor at some point in his life, he has a family, he has a mother, he has a father. He exists not only as an image,” Shoval advised AFP.
“It was very important to me to convey this, and also to show the pain that the family is going through.”
In the movie, David’s twin Eitan exhibits a tattoo of stars on his wrist — which David additionally has — as he talks about his brother, hunched over and smoking a cigarette.
Eitan additionally takes the viewer on a tour of his and David’s previous properties within the kibbutz, giving a harrowing blow-by-blow account of what occurred to them on October 7.
For Eitan, being separated from his brother has been “like being torn apart” and he’s “not the same person any more”, Shoval mentioned.
The Berlinale was closely criticised final 12 months after a number of filmmakers had been accused of creating anti-Semitic remarks on stage on the closing awards ceremony.
U.S. filmmaker Ben Russell, carrying a Palestinian scarf, accused Israel of committing “genocide” within the Gaza Strip, whereas Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra mentioned the Palestinian inhabitants was being “massacred” by Israel.
Ahead of this 12 months’s pageant, the Berlinale printed pointers on its web site on freedom of expression, anti-Semitism and displaying solidarity with the Palestinian trigger.
“We… stand by the right of our filmmakers to talk about the impulses behind their work and their experiences of the world. The Berlinale welcomes different points of view, even if this creates tension or controversy,” they mentioned.
Tricia Tuttle, who took over as the brand new director of the Berlinale in April final 12 months, mentioned she was “surprised” in regards to the backlash in opposition to the feedback made final 12 months, describing them as “free speech”.
“I’m more upset that there wasn’t a sort of place in the festival for people to feel empathy or hear empathy for the hostages too,” she advised AFP.
“We did not converse up for David Cunio final 12 months and I really feel like we actually missed a chance.
“While I want to be incredibly careful that we don’t continue to silence voices that are expressing sorrow and solidarity and an urge for Palestinian statehood, I also want to make sure that we show that we care about people who we have a relationship with.”
At the opening of the Berlinale on Thursday, Tuttle joined a vigil for David Cunio on the pink carpet.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on Israel resulted within the deaths of 1,211 individuals, largely civilians, in accordance with an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
Militants additionally took 251 hostages, of whom 73 stay in Gaza, together with not less than 35 the Israeli navy says are useless.
Israel’s retaliatory marketing campaign has killed not less than 48,239 individuals in Gaza, the vast majority of them civilians, in accordance with figures from the well being ministry within the Hamas-run territory that the U.N. considers dependable.
© 2025 AFP