David & Layla
What strikes at first sight when you meet director Jay Jonroy are his eyes, they reflect a mixture of kindness, unpretentious wit and genuine humor. A cosmopolitan by nature he seems to be drawn to stories that generate hope and a good laugh is enough to make his and your day brighter. Little in him betrays that he is an Iraqi Kurd other than a charming exotic accent covered up by his fluent British-American accent that only adds to his charm. Neither can one imagine that his life was marked by tragedy. His family in Kurdistan under Saddam's dictatorship was devastated by Iraq's genocide of Kurds: younger brother and brother-in-law, were both murdered. His other siblings and their spouses and children escaped Saddam's terror to settle as refugees in Europe. After 13 years of "missing", his brother's remains were found in a mass grave at Saddam's Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. A glimpse of these horrors is reflected in his `David & Layla' film. Jay was obliged to abandon his film projects unfinished for about ten years, returning to Europe to help his family to escape Saddam's genocidal horrors. Many of his siblings and relatives now live in Diaspora in England, Holland, Germany and France. He is also the producer/director of the romantic comedy David & Layla that was previewed to an enthusiastic audience in Paris last Sunday.
Sulaymani. It was the “cultural” capital of Kurdistan. My parents were wealthy but not consciously into culture, thought my Dad often quoted Kurdish poets as well as Hafiz and Saadi. I first read underground Poetry books at my Uncle home who himself was a poet. Kurdish poetry, folklore and literature were not taught in Iraq then. My elder brother and I would watch Italian films like Bitter Rice with the beautiful Sylvano Mangano or Hollywood action heroes like Burt Lancaster and Errol Flynn. We never got to see any movie end because we had to get out before the managers would get in.”
He ponders at those days with some philosophy “After University most short films I tried to make were rarely finished due to financial and technical shortcomings, I nevertheless got to observe and absorb a great deal of experience about storytelling and directing actors. I finally decided that I would only focus on feature films. And David & Layla has been a satisfying experience and for once completed and shown in the Theaters”
In post 9/11 New York where cultural and religious tensions are still vivid particularly in the Moslem community, Jonroy manages to capture through humor the complexities of inter-racial and inter-religious differences without ever offending or judging anyone's personal beliefs nor faith. In New York, David (David Moscow) , a Jewish American TV host of “Sex and Happiness” , falls in lust with sensual Layla (Shiva Rose) , a Kurdish immigrant. Faced with deportation, Layla must make a crucial life decision: to marry the exciting, witty Jewish David or conservative Muslim Dr. Ahmed? David's lust turns to love as he discovers that behind the mysterious Layla is a strong, intelligent, sensitive human being with an ancient culture that parallels David's own Jewish tradition- spice, music, dance and humor, despite unspeakable tragedy .
The film offers some very good moments even if at times one would have wished that Jonroy had a stronger bugdet and stronger performances to count on. However special credit should be given to the fact that he does break ground in talking about issues that are often taboo within the muslim community and in the way they are represented in Diaspora films. Like his male protagonist David, the film director takes an agnostic look at religion and its contradictions. There are some very hilarious scenes that remind you of some of Woody Allen's funny self introspections particularly in regard to sex with his psychiatrist or with his physician. Although David seems to have a very active sexual life with his jewish girlfriend he seems very insecure to the extent of considering Vasectomy as a recourse. This leads to some funny scenes and at times embarrassing for any male chauvinist. Jonroy's film shows how sex language as spoken in the West can be very un appealing to an Oriental « Khanoum » aka « good lady » or on the importance of family ties. What is considered in the West as ringard or old fashioned like the French protagonist François ( Alexander Blaise) in the film suggests is on the contrary highly esteemed in the east. This may seem cliché but less if one considers that despite a new and younger third generation of Muslims particularly Kurds or Iranian actors who tend to take bolder looks towards sex or even violence as is the case for Sarah Shahi in the L-Word or Shohreh Aghdashloo in 24 the aspirations and values of the second generation of middle eastern immigrants have often been ignored in Diaspora films. An interesting scene shows Layla calling her Jewish mother in Law « mother » in sign of respect which disturbs the latter who misunderstands Layla's comment as if she was considering her as an Old women. David & Layla has the credit of reminding us of simple values of love and togetherness so important to our elders and which is disappearing gradually…
Sulaymani. It was the “cultural” capital of Kurdistan. My parents were wealthy but not consciously into culture, thought my Dad often quoted Kurdish poets as well as Hafiz and Saadi. I first read underground Poetry books at my Uncle home who himself was a poet. Kurdish poetry, folklore and literature were not taught in Iraq then. My elder brother and I would watch Italian films like Bitter Rice with the beautiful Sylvano Mangano or Hollywood action heroes like Burt Lancaster and Errol Flynn. We never got to see any movie end because we had to get out before the managers would get in.”
He ponders at those days with some philosophy “After University most short films I tried to make were rarely finished due to financial and technical shortcomings, I nevertheless got to observe and absorb a great deal of experience about storytelling and directing actors. I finally decided that I would only focus on feature films. And David & Layla has been a satisfying experience and for once completed and shown in the Theaters”
In post 9/11 New York where cultural and religious tensions are still vivid particularly in the Moslem community, Jonroy manages to capture through humor the complexities of inter-racial and inter-religious differences without ever offending or judging anyone's personal beliefs nor faith. In New York, David (David Moscow) , a Jewish American TV host of “Sex and Happiness” , falls in lust with sensual Layla (Shiva Rose) , a Kurdish immigrant. Faced with deportation, Layla must make a crucial life decision: to marry the exciting, witty Jewish David or conservative Muslim Dr. Ahmed? David's lust turns to love as he discovers that behind the mysterious Layla is a strong, intelligent, sensitive human being with an ancient culture that parallels David's own Jewish tradition- spice, music, dance and humor, despite unspeakable tragedy .
The film offers some very good moments even if at times one would have wished that Jonroy had a stronger bugdet and stronger performances to count on. However special credit should be given to the fact that he does break ground in talking about issues that are often taboo within the muslim community and in the way they are represented in Diaspora films. Like his male protagonist David, the film director takes an agnostic look at religion and its contradictions. There are some very hilarious scenes that remind you of some of Woody Allen's funny self introspections particularly in regard to sex with his psychiatrist or with his physician. Although David seems to have a very active sexual life with his jewish girlfriend he seems very insecure to the extent of considering Vasectomy as a recourse. This leads to some funny scenes and at times embarrassing for any male chauvinist. Jonroy's film shows how sex language as spoken in the West can be very un appealing to an Oriental « Khanoum » aka « good lady » or on the importance of family ties. What is considered in the West as ringard or old fashioned like the French protagonist François ( Alexander Blaise) in the film suggests is on the contrary highly esteemed in the east. This may seem cliché but less if one considers that despite a new and younger third generation of Muslims particularly Kurds or Iranian actors who tend to take bolder looks towards sex or even violence as is the case for Sarah Shahi in the L-Word or Shohreh Aghdashloo in 24 the aspirations and values of the second generation of middle eastern immigrants have often been ignored in Diaspora films. An interesting scene shows Layla calling her Jewish mother in Law « mother » in sign of respect which disturbs the latter who misunderstands Layla's comment as if she was considering her as an Old women. David & Layla has the credit of reminding us of simple values of love and togetherness so important to our elders and which is disappearing gradually…
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