Here and Now

Andrey, the protagonist of the film, lives together with his immigrant family in the poor neighbourhood of Ashdod and tries to assimilate into the Israeli society. Together with his three friends he starts a hip-hop band and dreams about participating in a musical competition. But those plans are hindered by circumstances at Andrey’s home: his father gets into a hospital for several months, leaving his youngest daughter in Andrey’s care, on top of which Andrey has to make their mortgage payments. Andrey cannot successfully look after his sister, rehearse and work at the same time. Roman Shumunov, the film’s director, who himself immigrated to Israel at a young age, investigates the challenges of assimilation and tries to solve the riddle of the Russian mentality.

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