How Long Is “Broken Promise”?

Jiri Chlumsky directed this period drama based on a true story. Martin Friedmann (Samuel Spisak) is the son of a Jewish poultry salesman (Ondrej Vetchy) who with his wife (Ina Gogalova) is raising five children in Slovakia after the end of World War I. Martin is a avid soccer fan who has a real talent for the game, and as he grows up he develops a keen interest in playing professionally. But dark clouds appear on the horizon as a new political movement rises in Europe, and soon Martin is barred from his neighborhood team for being a Jew. Undaunted, Martin forms a team of his own with other Jewish athletes, only to find themselves without opponents after handing several other teams embarrassing defeats. Before long, anti-Semitism in sports is the least of the Friedmann family's troubles; in 1939, the Slovaks form an alliance with Nazi Germany, and though many Jews flee the country, Martin's father refuses to budge, leaving the family to face the Axis pogroms. But Martin is determined to survive, and he assumes a variety of new identities as he escapes Slovakia and makes his way through Eastern European in search of a safe haven while taking part in the anti-Nazi resistance. Nedodrzany Slub (aka Broken Promise) was an official selection at the 2009 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.