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David Shamoon of 'In Darkness'

One day eight years ago David Shamoon read a sentence in the Toronto Star that piqued his interest.

It led him down a path that has taken him to Sunday's Oscars.

What caught his attention was a line about a Catholic Polish man who hid a group of Jews in the sewers of Lvov during the Second World War.

The Markham native did some research and eventually came upon the book by Robert Marshall about the dangers of living underground in Nazi-occupied Poland called In the Sewers of Lvov.

Shamoon began writing the screenplay for what would become In Darkness, inspired also by his parents who were forced to flee Baghdad to escape Iraq's persecution of Jews.

The story looks at the complicated motivations of the anti-Semitic main character who hides the group of Jews, and the terrifying life that they lead below ground. All of the characters are deeply flawed and find various ways to deal with the terrible conditions they find themselves in.

Once the screenplay was written, Shamoon and director Agnieszka Holland had to negotiate the language of the film, which almost threw a wrench into the whole project.

The film is nominated for best foreign language film.

Here is an excerpt from an interview I had recently with Shamoon:


I understand that language was one of the things that hindered the advancement of the film?
I wanted Agnieszka to do the film but when we started talking about making it in English, we had to talk about accents -and actors putting on fake accents. Although there are very talented actors out there, she just didn’t want to go that route. She wanted it to be authentic with the real languages. I was reluctant and she gave me an ultimatum. Now looking back, it was totally the best decision. Agnieszka was bang on 100 per cent. We tried to reason with her but she stood strong. What made me change my mind was that she was the one on the planet to make the film. If we wanted her we didn’t really have a choice.


You’ve said that working with Agnieszka is like getting a PhD in filmmaking. What did you learn?

So much. It was like screenwriting 101. I learned that film is a visual medium and actors bring things to the project that do not require words. So much dialogue can be left out. Screenwriters tend to overwrite and when an actor gets involved you see what they bring to the table and how much they can get across without words. She also taught me about integrity and being an artist. First and foremost she is an artist. She is very courageous. Working with so many people with different languages it could get complicated and she just pushed through all of that. How can you not learn from someone like that? I keep pinching myself.

You’ve been working on this project for eight years. What kept you motivated through that whole process?

I felt like it was an important story. Although it’s a terrible one, it’s something we need to be reminded of. The story doesn’t just belong to the Jews – it belongs to us all. And it shows the worst and the best of mankind. It’s about the human element and it’s important to see there is good and bad in all of us with shades of grey in between. These were all people who were caught in an extreme situation. Honestly one per cent of the research that I did made it into the script. It was all just so horrifying and unimaginable.

The sole survivor saw the movie. What was that like, knowing that she would see it?

We flew to New York to screen the rough cut with Krystyna. Although the film is based on a true story there was also dramatization and fictionalization so I was worried about how she would react. As we were watching the film she whispered to her husband in Polish, which I don’t understand. And after it was over and the lights came on, her face was covered in tears. And then she said that was how it was. Honestly watching it was emotional for all of us. I’ve heard that she said she doesn’t want to watch it anymore and I understand that.

And you visited the sewers where this happened?

Yes I visited the camp in Lvov, which is now Lviv, Ukraine. We had planned to go in there for a few hours or something. But we didn’t last for more than 45 minutes. It was terrifying. We were walking on a ledge about a foot and a half wide, crouching. The person in front of me turned off the light a few times and it was pitch black. I can’t describe what it’s like when you truly can’t see anything. It was terrifying. I can’t tell you how they did it. I’m glad that I had the experience though.

Is it true that now you’re writing a comedy?

Yes. I’m going to LA soon to meet with the casting director. There will be a British director. It was refreshing to change gears. I was writing the comedy while I was doing rewrites and working through all the difficulty of In Darkness. It was kind of like escaping into the comedy because it was light and present day. It was a welcome change.

You have an incredible story yourself.  15 years ago you weren’t even writing screenplays and now you’re going to the Oscars.

Yes, it’s an unlikely story. I was in advertising and worked in art direction, then moved towards writing and eventually started my own agency. Then 15 years ago I got this crazy idea of writing screenplays and I learned all that I could about the craft and developed my skills as much as I could. I wrote on assignment for studios, and from there it was a pretty gradual thing.

When you heard that news about the nomination of the film for best foreign film, what was that like?

It was just a relief to be named. It’s a huge honour. What a lot of people seem to forget in all this is the Genie nomination, three in total (one for me), and 10 nominations at the Polish film awards. When I found out I was in my family room with the television on and I’m pretty sure I could hear about my heart pounding.



In Darkness is playing at the Varsity theatre in Toronto.