For the sake of brevity and not to confuse further, I did not include the following "Iranian" elements in my Director's bio on the movie site and IMDB that are meant for the general audience. I list these brief notes hoping they might be interesting to those who have seen or will see the Jewish Muslim romantic comedy David & Layla. My grandparents were born on the Iranian side of Kurdistan. They came from the Jwanrood mountain and Jwanroyee tribe that spread on both sides of the border between modern Iran and Iraq. Hence the adoption in England of the simplified Jonroy or Janroy as my last name. I was born in Sulaymani on the Iraqi side of Kurdistan. Sulaymani, the 'cultural' capital of Kurdistan, is considered to be a sister city to Senneh (Sanandaji) on the Iranian side. (The famous Senneh kilims - one marvelous speciemen is displayed here at NY Met Museum - come from Senneh that Ottoman empire re-named Sanandaj.) My mother's name was Aftab (Sun's beam?) spelled/pronounced Aftaw in Kurdish (similarly Sheb is Shew, night, etc.) Layla's aunt in the film is based on my mother and is named Aftaw Khan. Before and during early Islam, some Kurdish regions and tribes had women leaders or Pashas. Therefore in Kurdish both men and women to this date can have the Khan title. Perhaps, hence the current 'feminine' derivative, Khanem, after a lady's name. My dad named me Jalal, after Jalal aldin Rumi. He was always quoting us old 'unknown' Kurdish and famous Persian proverbs and poems- especially Hafez and Saadi. In the afternoons we used to listen to half an hour long radio programs of Iranian music & singers - Delkash,...- rather than short popular Arab songs from the capital of Baghdad beamed to all Iraq, ignoring the so called "North" of Iraq were not Arabs. Our maids and village women were mesmerizing us by telling us in Kurdish the stories of Shirin o Farhad (Khosrow o Shirin) and Rostam o Zal....and of magical and adventurous stories full of 'Dew"s and "Khew"s and heroes and lovers of Hazar O Yak Shew, 1001 Nights- many of which I later I re-read in English in England as Arabian nights! What grand theft! Kurdish poems, songs and names of men and women to this date are full of innocent/natural sensual references to women's fruits and to men's prowess, and names after Nature's sights, sounds and aromas. Hanar- pomegranate is a typical Kurdish name as is Shewnam (Shabnam), the early morning Dew. And lovely and tastey names like Shirin, Nazanin, Persheng, Pari,...and and for men, Sherko (Lion's son!), Bahman, Azad, Shamal (Breeze),.. What a disaster to Iranian Persian and Kurdish lives and cultures that we should be invaded by a flood of boring and tasteless, alien Islamic Arab, arid desert names like Mohammed, Ali and Fatima! And all of those glorified but unnatural Ayat O Allah's! Every Newroz we took off to picnic in the countryside by rivers or streams....with fires at night on roof tops and on hills to celebrate Norooz which was not known, let alone officially recognized, by Iraqi government Then we went to school which was administered by Arabic Capital of Iraq. Therefore we were only taught Islam and Arabic language and Arabs' literature and Arabs' glorious history. There was never one iota's reference to Kurdish let alone Persian (prior) religions, language, poetry or history. I play music (harmonica) from age of 10. But there were no music school to attend in my town. I was good at maths and later won a scholarship to England to study sciences. But music was and still is my first love. I collect world music. The French rightly call cinema, 'Le Septieme Art", the Seventh Art as movies came after man's other six principal arts. Music together with Painting and Oral stories are three of Man's earliest arts. The best films use and judiciously mix all of the Six arts to end with the Seventh, the ultimate art- Cinema! David & Layla- a Jewish Muslim love story - is partly if not mostly told through music. Hence the use of about 60 music cues, almost wall-to-wall music! Besides Jewish Klezmer and Jazz of David's New York world, to evoke Layla's world it features the mysterious, sad and exuberant, dancing music of the Iranian Persian and Kurdish artists: Kayhan Kalhor, The Kamkars, Ali Akbar Moradi, Abbas Kamendi, and the mysterious vocals of Iranian Kurdish American composer/singer, the phenomenal Sussan Deyhim whose vocals are also featured in The Kite Runner. Plus the exciting and sexy music of Arab Middle East including the brief Arabic belly dancing in David & Layla.