The story was pure fiction but the fraternal bond on the big screen was real.
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His younger brother Ariel was also abducted and is yet to be freed too.
Deadline talked to Shoval and Spielberg about the film as it world premieres at the Berlinale.
A Letter To DavidGreen Productions, Playmount Productions
How did this lead toA Letter To David?
TOM SHOVAL: After 7th October, I was in contact with Silvia Cunio.
It was very chaotic.
Tom Shoval, Nancy SpielbergCourtesy
Nobody knew what to do and what was really happening.
It was kind of fresh and overwhelmingly frightening.
I felt helpless but I started thinking and went back toYouth.
It occurred to me that a lot of elements in the film echoed what was happening.
The film has changed.
I cant see it in the same way anymore.
SHOVAL:I really wanted to show the film in the Berlinale.
Were closing some sort of a circle.Youthpremiered in the Berlinale and David was here, getting all the attention.
SPIELBERG:Were all on shaky ground.
One of the things that makes us all tremble is that the world is so divided, so polarized.
We gave them cameras to capture their lives in the kibbutz.
It was like we were dancing or playing.
We didnt feel anything violent.
It was an illusion.
When you see it now, you see the violence, you cant escape it.
And in my imagination, Im asking myself where is David now?
What is happening to him now.
You imagine a lot of horrible stuff and you dont want it to be like that.
How did you work with him in telling this traumatic story?
They were on board from the start, also we had known one another for many years.
I was very gentle with all of them.
DEADLINE: You dont use any of the footage from the actual day of the attack.
SHOVAL:I knew from the beginning that I didnt want to do that.
The moment we got these waves of violent and harsh footage we you couldnt see anything else.
It makes you blind, and you lose the human perspective of what is happening.
You had posters of people kidnapped and these condensed images of horror.
DEADLINE:Nancy, how and why did you get involved in this project?
SPIELBERG:I was in Israel 7th October.
It was the most frightening experiences of my life.
As an American, what can I compare it to?
It was a scary experience.
I wanted to tell a 7th October story the same way that Ive worked on Holocaust films.
I think every story is important.
Jake Paltrow said you should probably hear about Toms project.
It was the right answer for me.
Nobody imagines this is waiting in our wildest imaginations.
DEADLINE:How did your collaboration work?
SPIELBERG:Were all very connected.
The whole production team is wonderful.
Roy and Maya and Alona, theyre just all so collaborative.
I wanted to be the non-Israeli set of eyes.
I wanted to be the American audience, to be there to say.
The rest of the world maybe doesnt know the Cunio family.
I cant deal with that.
I cant comprehend that.
Me and the family want his voice to heard.
Of course, were very worried, but this is one of the tools we have.
DEADLINE:The ceasefire and hostage release plan is very fragile.
What would your message be to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?
DEADLINE:You say by no matter what it takes, does that includes via violent means?
SHOVAL:No violence.
I just want a deal to be made done, and as soon as possible.
There is really no time.
