BROKEN PROMISE (Nedodrzaný Sl’ub)
Directed by Jirí Chlumský

Martin Friedmann, one of five sons of a Jewish poultry trader, plays soccer while living with his family in an idyllic Slovakian town in the period after World War I. But as Martin’s bar mitzvah approaches, life begins to change, and Europe prepares for another war. When the family members gather to celebrate Martin’s ascent to manhood, they promise to reunite in a year’s time, not knowing that this will be the last time they'll all be together.

In 1939, Slovakia declares its alliance with Nazi Germany, and all Slovak Jews are registered. Martin’s friends and family leave his life one by one. Some flee to Palestine or farther abroad. Some are sent to Slovak work camps, others to concentration camps in Poland. Martin’s own journey takes him far afield, into adulthood, away from home and family, to starvation, hard labor and ill health, to a new name and identity (Martin Petrášek), and even into armed combat. All the while, the combination of chance and Martin’s fierce will to live enable him to survive.

Slovakia / 129 min. / 35mm / In Slovak with English subtitles

WINNER - BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE
Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival




“Jirí Chlumský's BROKEN PROMISE, a gripping dramatization of the true story of Martin Friedmann- Petrášek, offers a virtually singular experience: a Holocaust film without one scene in a death camp. The young Martin, of pre-Munich Czechoslovakia, navigated the vicissitudes of chance and destiny with ingenuity and tenacity. He not only survived but triumphed, and is still alive today -- a vital and inspiring testimony to an indomitable life spirit. BROKEN PROMISE also offers a rare example of the high quality of Slovakian filmmaking today."
Robert Hawk, www.FILMHAWK.com






2009 Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival
2009 Karlovy Vary Film Festival
2009 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
2009 Shanghai Film Festival