b s Imagine if Borat wrote a romantic comedy about a love affair between a Jew and a Muslim. Now you got it. This foreign writer/director's script about and a love affair in the USA is profoundly bad. I saw this with the writer/director and he openly admits that he never made a movie before –IT SHOWS! Let's start with the plot: David is so taken by the slow-mo vision of Layla walking that he must win her heart. Hilarity is supposed to ensue, right? If splitting your pants, being impotent or gay, and using hard drugs is funny to you. And this is the very Borat-ness of the movie: instead of romantic high jinx the writer/director makes David's stunts creepy, his motives shallow and he is pretty much devoid of any redeeming qualities. (Ok fine mister director, David does interrupt an attempted rape of Layla. "hey baby, where ya going?" Great dialog!) The characters are also bizarrely mismatched. David is a dangerously stupid, impotent, self-castrated man-child who is sexually and emotionally abused by his overbearing girlfriend. This is funny to you, right? Wait for the kicker! The are Jewish! Layla is a beautiful dark and mysterious, independent, Kurdish-Muslim woman whose family/community were brutally killed by Turkish and Iraqi forces (and the ignorance of the West). This is funny too, right? The funny in this movie is creepy and the serious is stacked on top like a mountain of cold fish. And this is a shame too. The Kurdish struggle is serious, here you get the feeling that he wanted to create a vehicle to show these pictures of gassed children. Polemic disguised as romantic comedy.Disturbingly, every Jewish man in the movie is either, impotent, gay, or a fat buffoon, while the Islamic characters are all helpful and try to do the right thing. (I'm an atheist -full disclosure. And coincidentally, I am friends with many of the Muslim shop keepers along Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn that figure prominently in the movie.) Jewish ritual is depicted with trivial scenes that do not reflect any depth of faith. Rather they are shown as sweaty, drunken, shekel-counting Americans. If you're thinking you know where this is going, you probably do. Islam is shown reverently. Muslims make funny faces in surprise sometimes, but their depth of belief is clear. In case the viewer is too stupid to get what is going on here, they make sure the Jewish mom faints on her way into the Synagogue when her big-money real estate deal falls through. The director said it took 18 years to make the film, go figure.

shivasharif There are many wonderful moments in the movie, however, what stands out is the movie's ability to tell the truth. I applaud Jonroy and the cast for working hard to remind us that there is more that unites us than divides us. This movie touches myriad of topics that are extremely relevant to what's going on in the world today. The movie takes you through the spectrum of emotion from laughter to tears and at the same time you walk away from the movie feeling that you've learned more than you may have known when you walked into the theater. Just like any other art each person will have his/her interpretation, but the beauty of the movie is that there is so much to talk about after the movie. I highly recommend this movie because I'm a big fan of comedy, romance, and the truth!

boogietown-1 We saw the movie at the "Festival International du Film d'Amour" at Mons (Belgium), where Jay Jonroy received the "Public's Price" from the hands of the Mayer Elio di Rupo. David and Layla could have been just another melodramatic version of Romeo and Juliet. On the contrary, Jay Jonroy made a very fresh and original movie, with a mixture of Jewish and Muslim humor and loads of comic situations. The emotions in the movie are sincere and the soundtrack is just beautiful. Besides being a nice and intelligent entertainment, this movie gives a true lesson in tolerance. The story also highlights the forgotten Kurdish issue (the tragedy of Halabja) and the problems of people living in diaspora. We hope that the movie will arrive in the Belgian theaters soon.

ottolag-1 As a young mixed race/mixed faith male i was intrigued as to what would i would be watching when i went to see David and Layla at the Kurdish Film Festival. After a brief but interesting history lesson on the Kurdish way of life and beliefs, i then felt i was appropriately informed to view the film. It is not every day that you hear of a Kurdish Romantic-Comedy set in New York, but i have to say that it worked extremely well and in this case first impressions served me well. The film starts off very funny, not the usual unrealistic Hollywood comedy, but everyday humour as the characters played their parts very well and it seemed sincere and down to earth. It has what many films these days do not have, the ability to keep the audience captivated, for this i give credit to the director Jonroy. Looking back on the film, the aspects that strike me the most are the script and the soundtrack both of which were top class. I would recommend this film to people of any ages, as I a 17 year old thoroughly enjoyed it and feel it would be a crime for it not to make it on to the big screen for all to see.