Directed by Pepe Danquart
Germany, France • 2014 • 112 mins.
Based on the real life story of Yoram Fridman, who escaped the Warsaw Ghetto when he was eight years old, we meet Srulik on the run in winter of 1942/1943. The Polish countryside through which he traverses underscores both his diminutive frame and the sheer solitude of his trek. Through a flashback, we learn Srulik’s father’s parting advice: to be brave, to be strong, to change his name, but to never forget he is Jewish. And Srulik—who renames himself Jurek Staniak—is ever faithful to his father’s words. Under the constant threat of Nazis, Srulik acquires the necessary skills to survive through the kindness of strangers, including a group of Jewish orphans, a kindly Catholic mother, and a compassionate blacksmith, but he can never stay in one place long. In Polish, Yiddish, Hebrew, and German with English subtitles.
Genres: Drama, Historical
Appears in: 23rd Portland Jewish Film Festival