Vigil for Hamas Hostage Israeli Actor David Cunio Held on Potsdamer Platz as Berlinale Opens

A group of artists and filmmakers held a vigil Thursday on Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, as the Berlin Film Festival kicked off, to call for the release of David Cunio, an Israeli actor who was one of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, from the Nir Oz kibbutz.

Cunio is also the subject of the documentary “A Letter to David,” by filmmaker Tom Shoval, which premieres Feb. 14 in the Berlinale Special section.

The group behind the vigil, called Bring David Home Now, has published on open letter whose more than a hundred signatories includes directors Michel Franco and Ari Folman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and German stars Iris Berben and Andrea Sawatzki, and prominent producer Max Wiedemann.

“As the Berlin Film Festival takes place in the city of Berlin for the 75th time, we would like to remind festivalgoers that there is a captive with ties to the festival who is still held hostage inside the tunnels of Hamas somewhere in the Gaza Strip,” the letter said.​

“Mr. David Cunio starred in the film ‘The Youth’ in 2012, which won a special prize in the Berlinale that year. He was a special guest of the festival and must have had fond memories of it,” it added.

The letter explained that “like hundreds of other Israelis, David was kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, from his home, along with his wife and their 3-year-old twins. Their house was burned to the ground. David’s wife and children were released after 52 days in captivity. David’s brother Ariel was also kidnapped along with his girlfriend Arbel. She was recently released after 15 months of complete isolation. However, the two Cunio brothers are still held somewhere inside the tunnels of Gaza.”

​As the film festival starts, and Berlin becomes full of life and art, we call for the immediate release of David, his brother Ariel, and the many dozens of Israeli hostages who are being held in the tunnels of Gaza. We pray that one day David would be able to visit Berlin and enjoy it again,” the letter concluded.