Roman Shumunov

Roman Shumunov was born in Tbilisi, Georgia in 1984. In 1993, after the Russia-Georgia War, his family moved to Russia. In 2001 he immigrated to Israel at the age of 17 as part of the students' preparation program Selah mir (Russian: СЭЛА МИР, Hebrew: סל"ה מיר)[1] and was trained at the University of Tel-Aviv. In 2004 he enlisted in the Israeli Air Force. During 2008-2011 he graduated with honors from the Sapir Academic College. In a number of his films Shumunow attempts to raise the awareness of the life of young immigrants to Israel.[2][3] In his interview to a Russophone TV program "Day" of Channel 9 Shumunov says that the three films, No One But Us, Babylon Dreamers, and Here and Now are a kind of a trilogy, an evolution of the same idea.[4]

• 2011: No One But Us, short, 35 min, diploma work.
• 2012: Eyes, short
• 2015: Red Echoes of War
• 2016: Babylon Dreamers, documentary, 90 min.[5]
  • Summary: A breakdancing team formed by immigrants from the former Soviet Union in a poor neighborhood in Israel plan competing in the International Breakdancing Competition in Germany.[6]
• 2018: Here and Now (Hebrew: כאן ועכשיו), full feature film debut [7]
  • Summary: A social drama evolving around a rap band of young immigrants from the former Soviet Union who live in the poor neighborhood of Ashdod and are rehearsing for auditions for an international music festival.[8]
• 2020: Back to Chernobyl, documentary
• 2021: Berenshtein - The last Partisan (Hebrew: ברנשטיין — הפרטיזן האחרו), drama film
  • Based on a real story of Leonid Berenstein (1921–2019), commander of a partisan battalion, who discovered the secret test site of the Nazi "doomsday weapon", V2-rocket[9]
• 2022 As Long as in the Heart,;[10] English-language version: Memory Forest,[11] a TV series in four 34 minute parts aired by Kan Educational about a group of Israeli teenagers on an educational trip to Poland to gain an experience about the Holocaust.[12][13]
• 2022: One and a Half Generation, TV mini series produced by Kan 11.[14]

• No one but us
  • 2012: Best Short Film, at the Mexico International Film Festival.
  • 2012: Best Actor Award and Honorable Mention Prize: Haifa International Film Festival.
  • 2011: Best Original Music, Cinema South Film Festival, Israel.
• Babylon Dreamers
  • 2016: Best debut film, at the DocAviv, Tel-Aviv International Documentary Film Festival
    • Jury Rationale: "The best debut prize is given to Roman Shumunov, a young filmmaker who brings his great rebel spirit to his film Babylon Dreamers. His fresh approach in portraying a group of tough and sensitive breakdancers opens up a window of hope and new possibilities for underground culture."[6]
  • 2017: Best Documentary Film Award: KIFF Kiev International Film Festival, Ukraine[6]
  • 2017: Best First Film Award at Israeli Documentary Film Awards
  • 2017: Audience Award for Best Film at the Moscow International Documentary Film Festival[15][6]
  • 2018: Winner in section "We are changing" "(Mi változunk)" at the Budapest International Documentary Festival[16]
• Here and Now
  • 2015, At the project stage, under the tentative title No Future, the film won the Jerusalem Film Festival Pitch Point’s Van Leer Foundation Award.[17] Jury's opinion: "The film has the potential to be a unique, sensitive and authentic voice of an important ethnic group in Israel"[18]
  • 2018, Best Music Award and the Ophir Awards[8]
  • 2019, Best Screenplay Award Zabaikalsky International Film Festival.[19][20]
• Berenshtein - The Last Partisan
  • 2022, Best Feature Film Award at Montreal Israeli Film Festival. [21]
  • 2022, Best Director Award at Montreal Israeli Film Festival. [21]

• Shumunov's website