Filmmaker Tom Shoval crafts a personal cinematic letter to David Cunio, who was abducted from Nir Oz to Gaza on October 7th and was released after 738 days in captivity. 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. When first presented at the 2025 Berlinale as a “film without an ending,” Shoval pledged not to consider the work finished until David was home. This updated film, A Letter to David—The Complete Version, screened during the 2026 Berlinale, concludes with a moving new epilogue featuring David, Ariel, and the entire Cunio family in the ending we all dared to hope for.

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