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 7th, 2023, and has 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.

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 “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.