David & Layla

Jay Jonroy has clearly put his passion where his camera is.

Even though he is personally affected by some of the events his characters go through, he doesn't beat you over the head with the darker sides of life and how humans can be so horrible to each other.

The acting is great. Though some of the characters can seem ridiculous, it helps make the whole situation more palatable. Aren't our prejudices and misunderstandings of each other usually ridiculous anyway? ( I mean, can't we all just get along?) ;o) I saw this movie at the Avignon Film Festival at Hunter College, and my cousin was visiting. She is living in Israel and is dating a man who is Israeli, but whose mother is Kurdish. We laughed and cried together at the travails David and Layla must go through when dealing with their families. You might too.

Essentially, this can be described as a sweet, yet rough around the edges, and real, romantic comedy-drama! The soundtrack alone is worth the ticket! I hope Jay gets a distributor soon!

This film is like 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' meets 'Romeo and Juliet' meets CNN--For grownups!

Jonroy has been able to combine tragedy, comedy, and romance to show the very delicate life experiences of a Jewish-Kurdish lover couple. The director summarizes the history of Jewish and Kurdis people that includes not only past friendships and past tragic experiences of Ausshwitz and Halabja but also achievements, joys and prides of these people. He cleverly opens up the sensitive issue of sexuality which still might be considered a taboo or even a "sin" in the Middle East, an unavoidable sin as creating a friendship between Jews and Kurds. In short, the couple's life in the movie symbolizes the history of two less wanted ethnicities in the Middel East who are long due to work together toward a common goal.

K. Artin

This film was a perfect combination of love and politics. Not an overload of either kept the story moving and interesting. The tension between David's family painted a picture of Jewish life in America. Layla tries to hold on to her roots in a new country. Both gracefully accept their plight and fight to be together. This is more than a story of lovers who can't be together. Arguments of whose people have been through more surface throughout the film. Everyone can relate to the feeling of having to prove and deal with suffering. Food mixes the story up, showing the effects of what we eat and how we love. It seems a spicy diet is best for romance, which in turn leads to overall happiness. If politicians ate more spice perhaps they wouldn't be so bitter. We can only hope this catches on! Layla was outstanding; beautiful and captivating. The characters were all intelligent and funny. A quick pace kept the film hilarious and informative. This is the kind of movie you take everyone to see.

I thought David and Leyla was a sweet and funny film depicting real life romance. In today's ever increasing cross cultural world this film supports divergent points of views in religion, family dynamics, sexuality and many other important issues affecting today's modern society. Very good acting from all the cast members. Congratulations on a film well done. At times the movie took too long to get to the substance of a particular scene. But, for the most part the flow of the film was good and it kept me, the audience, entertained. I would recommend this movie to friends and family and would enjoy seeing more movies on the screen depicting multi-cultural unions.

A nice movie with lots to think about, it does not leave you stranded but it helps you move forward with the movie and the characters. Layla is sexy and David is funny. A great brainy date movie. I had a good time watching the film and left with something to talk about. The Production values were top notch, it looked better than many indie films I have seen. I enjoyed the music throughout, it helped set the mood The belly dancer in the wedding scene was "wow" I have to say that the sparks flew when David and Layla kissed. The director should be applauded for not going Hollywood and actually making a film with substance and grit, the subject is everyday, we all deal with similar issues and the writer has a unique view of life that we can learn from