Hi there,
I am happy to share with you information a new award winning Israeli feature called "Here and Now".
WHEN: Coming Out on Oct 24th, 2019.
Winner of the Ophir Award for Original Music 2018
Ophir Award 2018 Nominee for Best Actor and Soundtrack
Winner of the Best Screenplay Award for Transbaiklia Festival, Russia
Clockwise from Top Left: Vlad Dubinsky (rapper known as Pint), Roman Shumonuv, Director (top and bottom right), Michelle Vainberg playing Christina, Alexander Flavnic, Screenwriter & Co-Creator and Eduard Khmelnitsky playing Mixer
The Plot
The film is a social drama told through the eyes of Andrey, a young new immigrant living in a poor neighborhood in Ashdod experiencing the difficulties of his family's integration into Israeli society. Andrey establishes a rap band with the aim of serving as the voice of the immigrants.
Creators Directed by: Roman Shumunov Screenplay: Roman Shumunov, Alexander Flavnik Cinematography: Ziv Berkovich Editing: Haim Tabakman, Maor Keshet Casting: Gal Gonen Soundtrack Design: Michael Gurevitch Art Design: Yon Varglis Costume Design: Rachel Ben Dahan Original music: The IZREAL band (Akim Golayev, Alexander Romanenko and Vlad Dubinsky), Georgy Khimuroda and Didi Erez Makeup: Merav Buschosha, Vicki Lackerman, Yaarit Sabinir Producer: Itai Tamir, Laila Films Co-producer: Ami Livneh
Actors Andrey: Vlad Dubinsky Christina, Andrey's Sister: Michelle Vainberg Zura: Zura Kartvelishvily Mixer: Eduard Khmelnitsky (Mixer) Renat: Renat Khassanov
ABOUT
Director Roman Shumunov Born in Tbilisi, Georgia in 1984, then still part of the Soviet Union. Following the war in Georgia, his family moved to Russia in 1993. After graduating from high school, he immigrated to Israel alone at the age of 17, in 2001, as part of the Salah Program for Immigrants (students before parents), and took the immigration preperatory classes at the University of Tel Aviv, joined the army in 2004 and served in the Air Force. He began filming at Sapir College in 2008. He lives in Kibbutz Bror Hayil and is currently working on his next film "Four Steps to Death" according to a script he has written, and is currently filming a documentary on Chernobyl for Kan 11.
Alexander Flavnik (screenwriter / co-creator) Born in 1985 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Alexander immigrated to Israel with his parents at the age of 11, lived for a short period in Bat Yam and from there continued to Ashkelon where he lives to this day. He studied film at Sapir College, where he met Roman Shumunov. The two created the short film "No One But Us" in which Vlad, Mixer and Renat played and that later became the initial basis for "Here and Now." Flavnick said that the entire script is made up of stories they have known and heard from friends and if things seem extreme, everything is true to the events that occurred and that they even refined some of the situations so the movie would not be too difficult to watch. Today Flavnik works on computers, but said he would be happy to return to filmmaking after he was established.
Vlad Dubinsky (Andrey) Born in 1986 in Kazan, Russia. Immigrated to Israel alone at age 15 as part of the Na'aleh program and admitted to the boarding school in Kfar Silver near Ashkelon. From an early age he began to write songs and create music. He met Roman in the underground hip-hop scene of middle-aged Russian-speaking youngsters. He played in a short film by Roman Shumunov in 2011 alongside most of the lead actors in the film "Here and Now." He was nominated for an Ophir Award for his lead role in the film, and was signed to the agency by Perry Kafri as a result. He has yet to play in any further significant roles. He works primarily in the art department in film and television productions. In his training he is a sound engineer, attending Yoav Gra's sound school. His nickname in the hip world is "pint" which means trick, conveying his unique approach to everything. He's about to release a new album with his original songs.
Eduard Khmelnitsky (Mixer) Born in 1985 in Sochi, Russia. He immigrated to Israel at the age of 17 with his mother and brother. The family lives in Ashdod. Mixer completed Amal 1 High School. As a young man he practiced boxing and was the country's champion in Thai boxing for 2005-2006. Mixer modelled in several productions, including works alongside Dana Frider and Bezeq commercials. He was active in the underground hip-hop scene among Russian-speaking young people and danced breakdance from an early age, which was how he met director Roman Shumunov while the latter was primarily engaged in music. His nickname "mixer" came from his ability to make turns on his head. In 2009 he participated in the reality show "We Will Not Stop Dancing" during a season interrupted by Operation Cast Lead. To a large extent, Andrey's character in the film is based on him. His mother passed away in 2014 and he had to find a living to support his younger siblings, that led to his exposure to crime out of financial hardship. He paid a high price for it and was even stabbed and wounded. He was actually the protagonist of Roman Shumunov's documentary "Babylon Dreamers". Among the accolades that the film received many noted favorably mixer's charisma in the film. In the documentary, he takes care of his younger brother and his children.Today he dances less, but still adheres to a life of fitness and sports. He works in communications.
Michelle Vainberg (Christina) Born in Israel in 2004 to immigrant parents from the CIS. From an early age, she loved acting and drama, playing a number of shows, children's shows and clips. She is currently a sophomore at the Kiryat Sharet Science School in Holon, her hometown.
Duration: 90 Minutes Spoken Languages: Russian and Hebrew Subtitles: Hebrew and English Distribution in Israel: Eden Cinema
Best, Talma
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