Israeli filmmaker Tom Shoval has won rave reviews for his sharp visual style and storytelling abilities. In 2007, he graduated with honours from Jerusalem’s Sam Spiegel Film & Television School. Shoval’s award-winning short films have been screened at film festivals worldwide. His latest film 'Letter to David' will be shown at JIFF very soon.

Back in 2013, twin brothers David and Eitan Cunio starred in Tom Shoval’s debut feature film, Youth, which focuses on two brothers who kidnap a schoolmate in a misguided attempt to help their family out of debt. Ten years later, in a cruelly ironic case of art mirroring life, David Cunio became a hostage himself when he was abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and has been held in Gaza ever since. (0:30-20:25)

Natalie Sanandaji, 28, serves as a public affairs officer for the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM). A Long Island native born to an Israeli mother and Iranian father, Natalie narrowly survived the Nova music festival massacre during a visit to Israel. Her traumatic experience that day led her to transform her life and switch her career path to Jewish advocacy and fighting antisemitism. (42:41-57:40)

I speak to another film director Yoav Paz about his film The Ring, to be shown soon at JIFF, which explores themes of memory, family bonds, reconciliation across generations, and the legacy of the Holocaust in a Holocaust-themed Israeli dramedy. (20:31-35:51)

The October 7 massacre and the subsequent war have claimed the lives of nearly 2,000 civilians and soldiers. It has become a tradition in Israel, during this war, for families and friends to create a memorial sticker for their loved ones.  The Stickers of Meaning project was co-created by Jeff Weiss to collect and present these stickers to the public in a central repository, making them and the powerful messages they carry accessible to everyone. (35:58-42:41)

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