On October 7, 2023, David Cunio and members of his family were among those abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz. While some from the community have returned and others have perished, David remains a hostage in Gaza. In this powerful, contemplative documentary, Tom Shoval chronicles the Cunio family’s persistence in the face of tragic uncertainty, while employing filmmaking as a way to process his own grief over his friend’s absence. David and his twin brother, Eitan, starred in Shoval’s first feature, Youth, released in 2013. Clips from the film, along with making-of footage and tapes the brothers shot of their daily lives, display David’s talent, personality, and vitality. In the present day, Eitan returns to their now-unlivable homes, recounting in wrenching detail the day everything changed, and Shoval reflects on their first artistic collaboration, appalled by the recklessness he now sees in the choreographed violence of fiction filmmaking. A Letter to David is an intensely personal exploration of the devastating consequences of war and startling reflections between life and art. —Laura Henneman

Sunday, August 3