David Cunio is among the 134 hostages currently held in Gaza, but 11 years ago, he starred in the acclaimed movie Youth, the debut feature by director Tom Shoval, and the film will be screened at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque on April 30 at 7 p.m. The proceeds from the screening will be donated to the Cunio family to help them continue the fight to free the hostages.
David was abducted by Hamas along with his wife, Sharon Aloni-Cunio, and their twin daughters, Emma and Yuli, from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. Sharon and their daughters were released in late November. David’s younger brother, Ariel Cunio, was abducted with his girlfriend, Arbel Yehud, from Nir Oz. Ariel and Arbel are still being held hostage by Hamas.
David’s twin brother, Eitan Cunio, who costarred with him in Youth, hid out with his family in their safe room on the kibbutz, managing to survive after the Hamas terrorists set their house on fire by removing the air conditioning unit, which allowed some air to enter the room.
David and Eitan were young, nonprofessionals when Shoval cast them in Youth, which, in an eerie coincidence, is about two teen boys whose family is in a financial crisis and who decide to kidnap a wealthy classmate, hoping the ransom money will enable them to save their apartment. The film won awards all over the world, and drew the attention of Oscar-winning director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who became a mentor to Shoval and produced his film, Shake Your Cares Away.
David and Eitan were widely praised for their performances. But although the two chose not to continue acting, David’s life was changed by appearing in Youth in more ways than one: He and Sharon met because she was working on the movie. Recently, Sharon and David were glimpsed in the audience when Adi Ashkenazi’s stand-up comedy special, which was recorded before October 7, was broadcast on Keshet 12.
Aloni-Cunio speaks out on behalf of hostages
Sharon has spoken out about the abuse that the hostages endure in captivity and begged the Israeli government to do everything in its power to secure the release of David and all the hostages. In a particularly cruel choice, their Hamas captors separated the family, holding 3-year-old Yuli separately from the rest of them. Sharon did not know if Yuli was alive until just before they were released.
Kirsten Niehuus, head of German fund Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, which helped finance Youth, told Variety in October: “We at Medienboard have very strong ties to the Israeli film community. We share the pain with the Israeli people and condemn the cruel attacks on innocent people. We urge the kidnappers to release their hostages and thereby reopen the door to prevent more bloodshed.”
To order tickets to the screening, to the Tel Aviv Cinematheque website at cinema.co.il