"Kurdish American Committee for Democracy in Iran" welcomed the Kurdish movie director Jay Jonroy, actress Shiva Rose, and actor David Moscow during the Gala Premiere and post-premiere celebration of "David and Layla" in Los Angeles, California USA
on July 16th, 2007



Azad Moradian, Soraya Fallah, And Jay Jonroy Director of  film "David & Layla"



David Moscow actor, Azad Moradian, Soraya Fallah, And Shiva Rose actrees

The Gala Premiere and post-premiere celebration of "David and Layla" in Los Angeles, California USA on July 16th , 2007

David & Layla

A modern Romeo & Juliet

a  romantic comedy of ethnic proportions!

Inspired by a true story


David & Layla U.S Release July 20

 

"David & Layla manages to be both randy and chaste. An offbeat cross-cultural romance with a positive message"

- Michael Ordoña, The LA Times

 

 “A superior variation on My Big Fat Greek Wedding, with unexpected insights.”

- Joe Baltake, Independent film critic

 

 

“An Earnest, Frequently Funny Comedy”

- Lisa Nesselson, Variety

 

“It’s hard not to be infected by the good humor and sheer joie de vivre of David & Layla”

- Ella Taylor , LA Weekly


“A bold, politically relevant film.”


- Harold Pinter, 2005 Nobel Laureate, Oscar nominee, London-based Writer/Actor/Director

 

 "David & Layla, Kurds are not unlike Jews in their hospitality, love of food, vigorous wedding dancing, and various mishegoss”

-  Tom Tugend, Jewish Journal

 

“Jonroy may have given the cinema its first Kurdish sex symbol: Shiva Rose.  There is much humor in David & Layla, some of it surprisingly raunchy”

- Jim Ridley, Nashville Scene

 

“David & Layla provides loving insights into the joys and sufferings of the Kurdish people”

- Tom Tugend, Jerusalem Post


Trailer & cinemas showing David & Layla at official movie site:

http://www.davidandlayla.com/

 

  Now playing in several cinemas in LA, Irvine , Detroit & Nashville ,

 And on August 3rd in DC Washington , Oklahoma , Florida …in U.S release roll out.

 Screening :

http://www.davidandlayla.com/index3.html

  http://www.myspace.com/jay_jonroy

DAVID & LAYLA is a film about an impossible romance that gets at the heart of the hypocritical stereotypes and illusions we all have about differing cultures and religions.  David (David Moscow), a young Jewish man finds Layla (Shiva Rose McDermott), a beautiful "Kurdish" Muslim immigrant, and can’t get her off his mind.  But her Kurdish culture doesn’t mix with his Upper East Side origins, and both lovers can’t help but mislead their families about one another as they try to begin their affair.  A true comedy of errors ensues from temple to mosque, from perversion to conversion, and all the while their passions increase regardless of this unlikely affair.

 "I laughed and cried…it touches the funny bone as well as the heart.”

Films of Conflict & Resolution are unique in their multi-faceted portrayals of conflict around the world.  This film was made against industry odds, but with the belief that once viewed by audiences, it would resonate with a potent message. The film utilizes the power of cinema to increase awareness and understanding of the human realities of war and conflict. The writer/director Jay Jonroy in the face of intense conflict, strives to illuminate the realities of the world around his characters—and thus hope to foster the process of peace and conflict resolution through entertainment, art and vision."

“… so overwhelming, it shouldn't be missed by anyone. Mix in sex, spice, Charlie Chaplin, Saddam Hussein, belly dancing, a Seder and a little of Romeo and Juliet and you might start getting a flavor for this film that will challenge, make you laugh out loud, and get a glimpse into the human forces that are shaping our times… “

Independent film critic Joe Baltake writes:

21 Official Selections; 5 Wins:

DAVID & LAYLA is unique by being Official Selections not only at regular film festivals but also at 'Conflict Resolution' and 'Human Rights', and at 'Romantic' and 'Amour' 'film festivals. 


First fe1.   FLIFF - Spirit of Independents Award: Jay Jonroy, Writer/Producer/Director

More information on Jay is at  www.newrozfilms.com

(Almodovar's VOLVER won Best Picture Award)

2.    FLIFF - Best Breakthrough Performance Award:  Shiva Rose, Actress*

(* Only one "Best Breakthrough Performance" Award for both male and female actors in Competition)

3.    World Fest- Best Romance Feature

                                                4.    Washington D.C. Independent- Outstanding Feature, World Cinema

                      5.     Amour International Film Festival- Prix du Public/Audience Award


Interview with Shiva Rose

 

  CAST

David Moscow                ...David Fine     

Shiva Rose McDermott    ...Layla Mawlawi

Peter Van Wagner           ...Mel Fine

Polly Adams                    ...Judith Fine

Callie Thorne                   ...Abby

Will Janowitz                    ...Woody Aaron

Alexander Blaise              ...Francois

Tibor Feldman                  ...Chief Rabbi

Anna George                   ...Zina

Ken Kliban                      ...Dr. Jacobson

Hany Kamal                    ...Imam

Philip Galinski     Hyman/Textile Salesman

C.S. Lee                           Yun

Luis Gonell                     ...Hispanic Officer

Ali Reza                        ...Dr. Ahmad  

Anahid                           ...Aftaw Khan

Albert Macklin               ...Dr. Susswein   

Ed Chemaly                   ...Uncle Ali "Al"

Alex Hoffman                ...Newroz


The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition

My big, fat, Jewish-Kurdish wedding?
TOM TUGEND, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 18, 2007
Nice Jewish boy in Brooklyn dumps domineering Jewish fiancée when he falls for lovely Kurdish Muslim girl. Parents and relatives on both sides are horrified, but are reconciled at raucous interfaith wedding.
That, in a thimble, is the plotline of David & Layla, the umpteenth updated version of Romeo and Juliet, or, if you will, Abie's Irish Rose. (Why is it almost always Jewish boy and shiksa and not Jewish girl and goy, but never mind.)
What saves the film from triteness is the loving insight it provides into the joys and sufferings of the Kurdish people. The Kurds, like another Near Eastern tribe whose name slips my mind, seem to have been handpicked by their deity for endless miseries, but defiantly preserve their humor and high spirits.
The main purveyor of high spirits is Layla, who moonlights as an exotic but chaste nightclub dancer, while awaiting deportation as an illegal immigrant. Portrayed by Shiva Rose, a smashing beauty of mixed Irish and Persian parentage, one wonders what she sees in the rather nebbishe David (David Moscow), but go figure love.
David's parents fall somewhat short of the Jewish ideal. Despite his many infirmities, father Mel pursues rather weird sexual adventures, at home and away. Mother Judith may be the last Jewish maternal stereotype who, when informed that a friend's son has an Oedipus complex, utters, "Oedipus, Schmodipus, as long as he loves his mother."
That one must date back to the time some Viennese wit told it to Sigmund Freud for the first time.
Of course, the path to the altar is not without obstacles. We won't talk about David's vasectomy, which he underwent at the urging of his ex-fiancée, but we have to face the sensitive issue of conversion,
Who of the two should convert to the other's faith? Layla makes the, I guess, sensible point that if she converts "I have to jump into a pool and follow 613 laws," while all David has to do is repeat once "Allah is God and Mohammed is his prophet."
Fortunately, since David has already been circumcised, that problem is out of the way.
All such niggling aside, if the goal of Jay Jonroy, the film's writer, director and producer, was to give Americans a glimpse into the lives of his fellow Kurds in a painless lesson, he has done the job.
Jonroy is a Kurdish refugee from northern Iraq, who fled the murderous regime of Saddam Hussein, some of whose atrocities are briefly depicted in the movie.
In their religion, Kurds practice a form of Islam lite, which Jonroy compares to Conservative/Reform Judaism vis-à-vis Orthodoxy.
In many other respects, judging from David & Layla, Kurds are not unlike Jews in their hospitality, love of food, vigorous wedding dancing, and various meshugas.
Scattered throughout the countries of the Near and Middle East, distrusted everywhere, some 35 million Kurds have longed for centuries to establish their own country, but it remains a far-off dream.
David & Layla opens July 20 in the US. Release dates have yet to be announced here. For additional background on the film, visit www.davidandlayla.com.

More :
http://e-paper.nashvillecitypaper.com


Home

You are visitor