“Faith, Friendship, Family….and the challenges of being ... - FDb.cz

DAVID
TOTA L R U N N I N G T I M E : 77 M I N U T E S
“Faith, Friendship, Family….and the challenges of
being different in America.”
Sales / Publicity Contac t:
Julian Schwar tz
646-234-7708
Julian@madmonk media.com
David-themovie.com Facebook .com/davidthemovie t witter.com/davidthemovie

DAVID
THE MOVIE
SYNOPSIS:
“David” tells the story of Daud, an eleven
year old Muslim boy growing up in
Brooklyn. As the son of the Imam of the
local mosque, he has to juggle his father’s
high expectations, the dynamics of a
conservative family, and being different –
even from his peers in the Muslim community.
Through an innocent act of good faith, Daud
inadvertently befriends a group of Jewish
boys who mistake him for being Jewish
and accept him as one of their own. While
working together on a summer project,
a genuine friendship is formed between
Daud and Yoav, one of the Jewish boys.
Unable to resist the joy of a camaraderie
that he has never felt before, David, as he is
known to the Jewish boys, gets drawn into a
complicated situation that is based upon both
the best of intentions, and youthful deceit.
When the Jewish boys discover that Daud
has lied to them, his world is shattered,
and he is left alone, struggling to come
to terms with his place in the world.
Starring: Maz Jobrani as Ahmed
• The Interpreter – Opposite Sean Penn /
Nicole Kidman
• Axis of Evil Comedy Tour – HBO /
Comedy Central
• Funny in Farsi - ABC

Uppsala Int.
Short Film Festival
WINNER
ARAB
Film Festival
WINNER
Sidewalk Moving Picture
Film Festival
Kathryn Tucker Windham
Storytelling Award
WINNER
INDIE Memphis
Film Festival
B A S E D O N T H E AWA R D W I N N I N G S H O R T F I L M “ DAU D ”.
ABOUT THE FILM
“David” is first and foremost a story of friendship
between two boys. It is not a political or religious movie,
but, after watching it, these topics will inevitably
seep into the conversation. The film questions the
boundaries of our cultures and religions, and looks
at how static and yet fluid these boundaries can be.
As recent news about the Islamic community
center in Lower Manhattan has shown, this is
clearly a deeply sensitive issue, and one that
has been central to the American experience.
It is also an issue that is largely unresolved, and
a source of tension in many parts of the world.
This film is a street-level look at an eleven-yearold
Muslim boy’s struggle to fit in – within his
family, community and wider world. What starts
as an innocent mistake, develops into an unlikely
friendship. Two boys, both of conservative religious
backgrounds, find commonality in each other.
The irony that Daud, a Muslim, finds friendship
amongst a group of Jewish kids is as far into the
explicit politics that we wanted to go in the film.
Their connection is born out of a closeness that
reflects the unique positions of both the Arab and
orthodox Jewish communities in America: they
both strive to live modern lives while retaining
their core religious and cultural virtues. This in itself
is a microcosm of four centuries of the American
experience for successive waves of immigrants, as
expressed in the film by the Rabbi in the Yeshiva.
to go to university – not as a way of escaping a
conservative up bringing, but rather because it is the
path that will allow her to realize her dreams. Like
many Muslims in America, Aishah’s struggle is one of
retaining her core Muslim identity, while at the same
time becoming part of the fabric of American society.
The film is not our attempt to provide answers
to issues of prejudice, culture or religion – as
they run far deeper than the scope of a film -
but rather to raise questions in a different tone;
ones we hope can help us better understand
a little bit about each other, and ourselves.
Too much of the conversation about Islam
in America has been tainted by ignorance and
misunderstandings, and the same is true within
the wider Islamic world about Americans and Jews.
Unfortunately it seems easier to deal with each other
as stereotypes rather than people. It was a truly special
experience to watch the actors who played Daud
and the Jewish boys interacting when the camera
was off: an Arab boy and five Jewish boys playing,
joking around, and being friends. It was difficult to
shoot the moments of tension between the boys, as
it contradicted how they related in real life. In a time
of pervasive cynicism and mistrust, these deeply
touching moments offered a useful lesson that
perhaps we should be spending more time reflecting
upon the similarities that we all share, rather
than being scared by the differences we perceive.
We also wanted to show a little of the
tension within conservative communities living
in America – as told through the story lines
involving Daud’s family. Daud’s father, Ahmed,
embodies the ‘old ways’. Playing the role of a
conservative Imam in New York puts him in the
middle of challenges that he never would have
been trained to deal with in his home country, as
members of his community and family engage
with the offerings of an open and different world.
His resistance to change is shown through his
conflict with his daughter, Aishah, who is desperate

J O E L F E N D E L M A N Writer Producer Director
It all started with his trick skates and a video
camera. More recently, Joel Fendelman has
been in New York producing and directing
award winning films. His feature debut
documentary “Needle Through Brick” surveys
the quickly vanishing art of traditional Kung
Fu through the eyes Kung Fu Masters that
fled China over the last 100 years. The film,
which he shot in Malaysia, won the Silver
Palm award from the Mexico International
film festival. It is currently attracting interest
for distribution in the European Market.
In only 5 years, Joel has directed a
number of award winning short films
that have been accepted and shown at
prestigious film festivals, including Cannes,
Chicago, Miami, Woodstock and IDFA. His
company, Fendelman Films, is a boutique
production company based in Brooklyn. Joel
won the Chipotle Commercial Competition in
2009 and continues to produce commercial
content for agencies such as Kern & Lead.
Joel also works as a film editor, editing
episodes of Watching the Detectives for
the A&E Network, The Artist’s Den for PBS,
Total Makeover for Allure and does ongoing
portrait profiles for American Express.
Education: BFA in Film and television from
the Savannah College of Art and Design.
J U L I A N S C H WA R T Z Producer
Julian worked in New York as a Music
Producer for Television and Film for 14
years. He worked on feature films, television
commercials, and hundreds of episodes of
animated television programming for Kids
WB and FOX Kids including the children’s hits
“Pokemon”, “Yugioh”, and “Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles”. His feature film credits include
“Hope and a Little Sugar”, “Southie”, “The Spell
of The Unknown”, and “Yugioh: The First Movie”.
Julian was born and raised in Montreal,
where he graduated from McGill University with
a Bachelor of Science in Human Physiology.
He attended Naropa University in Boulder
Colorado where he received a BA in Music
and Theatre, and studied Jazz Improvisation
at New England Conservatory with Paul Bley.
Julian is also an actor, and has appeared on
many regional and off-off Broadway stages as well
as in numerous short films. He lives in Brooklyn.
M A Z J O B R A N I Actor Producer
Maz Jobrani is best known as a founding member
of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, which featured
some of the top Middle Eastern-American
comics in the world. The Axis of Evil Comedy
Central Special premiered in 2007 as the first
show on American TV with an all Middle Eastern/American
cast. In movies Maz starred in the
role of “Moly” in Ice Cube’s “Friday After Next.”
He also played Secret Service Agent “Mo” in the
Sydney Pollack thriller “The Interpreter,” opposite
Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman as well as
Jennifer Garner’s colleague, Glenn, in “13 Going
on 30.” In television he recently shot a pilot for
ABC titled “Funny in Farsi” and is recurring on
ABC’s “Better off Ted.” He has been a regular on
ABC’s “Knights of Prosperity” as well as FOX’s
“Life on a Stick.” In 2008 Maz sold a TV show to
CBS based on his life as an Iranian-American in
the United States. The show was best described as
a Middle Eastern “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
PAT R I C K D A LY Writer Producer Co-director
Patrick Daly is a director and producer
who divides his time between academic and
creative pursuits. After working as a consultant
on several documentary projects, he directed
NEEDLE THROUGH BRICK in collaboration
with filmmakers James Adolphus and Joel
Fendelman. Patrick completed a PhD in
archaeology at the University of Oxford.
During this time he conducted extensive field
research in Europe, South America, the Middle
East and South East Asia. As part of this work
he lived for extended periods of time on farms
in England, with Bedouin in the deserts of
southern Jordan, and in traditional villages in
Borneo. Political and social reasons brought
him to take up a position as a visiting professor
at An-Najah National University in Nablus,
Palestine. He spent more than a year living at
the center of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.
It was during this time that he was convinced
to pursue filmmaking as a vehicle for telling
stories about pressing cultural and social issues.
G I L TA L M I Composer
At only 38 years of age, Gil Talmi is a worldrenowned
Emmy nominated composer
with a focus on socially conscious projects.
His music can be heard in a variety of films,
television programs and theatre productions.
Gil’s most recent work includes music for
the award winning documentary feature
“New Year Baby” (Broken English Prods/
ITVS), the 3 hour epic “Galapagos” (BBC/
National Geographic), “The Mummy
Who Would Be King” (Nova/PBS), “TED:
The Future We Will Create” (Independent) and
a TV series for Bravo called “TV Revolutions”.
A gifted composer, Gil’s music reflects a wide
spectrum of musical influences. His styles
range from timeless orchestral to driving urban
beats, from ethnic world music to electronic
euro-pop. Gil was nominated for a “National
News and Documentary Emmy Award” for his
work on “CBS Evening News with Dan Rather”.
J A S O N D U B I N Executive Producer
Jason formed O.D.D. Entertainment in 2004,
which went to produce it’s first feature,
“The Babysitters” starring John Leguizamo
and Cynthia Nixon. Along with producing
Domino Effect, a documentary television
show focusing on people making a difference
around the world; Jason is currently an actor
and filmmaker in New York City where he is
developing and producing a slate of projects
including “Downer’s Grove”, a novel adapted
by Brett Easton Ellis (American Psycho) which
is going into production in the fall of 2010
starring Hayden Panittiere (Heroes), Nikke Reed
(Twilight) and Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down).

C A S T
Ahmed
Daud
Yoav
Aishah
Fatima
Moshe
Mendy
Dovi
Yoseph
Rabbi Harowitz
Rabbi Schmully
Rami
Suhad
Rami’s Father
Yoav’s Mom
Yoav’s Dad
Yussef
Rifqa
Maz Jobrani
Muatasem Mishal
Binyomin Shtaynberger
Dina Shihabi
Gamze Ceylon
Michael Golden
Daniel Luttway
Markus Goldberg
Jared Kirsch
David Mandelbaum
Noam Wienberg
Akram Basuni
Ayse Richardson
Taufiq Abid
Lara Gedzelman
Joel Gedzelman
Abdu Almasmary
Aya Abid
C R E W
Director
Co-director
Writers
Produced by
Producers
Executive Producers
Co-Producer
Assistant Director
Director of Photography
Original Music
Editor
Additional Editors
Art Direction
Location Sound
Associate Producer
Gaffer
Joel Fendelman
Patrick Daly
Joel Fendelman, Patrick Daly
Julian Schwartz
Joel Fendelman, Patrick Daly, Maz Jobrani
Jason Dubin, Andrew Cohen
Yuta Silverman
Kevin harttman
Robbie Renfrow
Gil Talmi
Joel Fendelman
Martin Levenstien, Chris Houghton
Shruti Parekh
Rick McMunn
Asmi Fathelbab
Patrick Welty