Based on an autobiographical novella by Ivan Olbracht, the film tells the story of Hanele Safarová, who grows up just after the First World War in a little Ruthenian schtetl which, in true Hassidic fashion, awaits the arrival of the Messiah. But Hanele decides to follow the Zionists instead. She moves to the city to prepare for her departure to the Promised Land, where she meets a successful businessman named Ivo Karadzic, who has renounced Judaism to become a free-thinker. Their love for each other doesn’t only drive Hanele’s parents to distraction, it also threatens to destroy the entire community in the schetl.
Karel Kachyňa
Director

Lada Jelínková
Hanele Šafarová

Miroslav Noga
Ivo Karadžič

Jiří Ornest
Dad

Táňa Fischerová
Mom

Milan Lasica
Grandpa Šafar

Hanuš Bor
Pinches Jakubovič

Václav Chalupa
Šlojme Kac

Stanislav Zindulka
Jid Fajnerman

Jan Kraus
Salamon Fux
Breathe74%
Great Expectations64%
The Sleeping Dictionary65%
Not Easily Broken63%
The Great Gatsby73%
The Choice72%
Love Everlasting73%
Rebel in the Rye66%
The History of Love64%
Forever First Love70%
The Best of Me75%
Endless Love69%
Blind61%
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button76%
Turtles All the Way Down72%
Come Sunday58%
Romeo and Juliet74%
Sarah's Oil77%
The Way We Were69%
Fatima72%