Generation 1.5 | The Million that changed the Middle East
(2022)
Director: Roman Shumonov
Length: 3 Episodes • 50 min ea.
Client: The Israeli public broadcasting Corporation

A mini-documentary series that captures the personal historical drama of the immigration of Jews from the USSR to Israel. Beginning in the 1990s and over just one decade, about a million immigrants from the USSR arrived in Israel. Today, they make up about one-tenth of Israel's population. Their arrival changed the balance of power in the Middle East and their influence is evident in Israeli politics, culture, and society. So much so that the Russian ambassador to Israel in the 2000s, Dr. Piotr Stegani, defined Israel as "another post-Soviet state. Where else outside the former soviet bloc and Israel can you speak Russian with the saleswoman in the mall and with her foreign minister at the same time?"