Xénia Gracová

Slovakia, on the eve of the outbreak of World War II. The family of the young Jewish Martin Friedmann gathers to celebrate his bar mitzvah and make a solemn promise that they will all meet again a year later around the same table; but the storms of war and anti-Semitic fanaticism will lead each of them down very different paths.

Bratislava, 1930s. The owner of a luxury tailoring salon, Alfréd Blum, has always relied on a classy clientele, thanks to which he rose to the top of society. But times change, the world is in an economic crisis, and Blum discovers that in reality he only has debts. He has completely lost his assets in shares, and his clients have to deny themselves luxury goods. The only hope to save his family from poverty is Blum's life insurance policy for 300,000 crowns. Therefore, the businessman turns to his old acquaintance, unemployed tailor Ján Kepeš, with an unusual offer. He gives him five thousand crowns and arranges a job for him in a Viennese salon. The condition is that Kepeš kills Blum...

Majka "Chatterbox" is a girl entering adolescence. She was born with a minor disability. While her mother keeps scolding her for the way she walks, her classmates mock her and call her a "duck". Along an innocent first love affair and a secret friendship, she receives little understanding from her parents and lots of malice from her schoolmates. Majka finds refuge with her grandmother and in her own fantasy world.

Vlado, an intelligent boy living in a small village, has fantasies that take him away from his humdrum life. But as the Nazi occupation begins to encroach on the townsfolk his fantasies and reality begin to merge.

In Slovakia, they often and gladly honored those soldiers who refused to serve the fascist regime and stood against it. Lieutenant Kukorelli also rejected the tempting career of a pilot, instead helping the resistance fighters and later participating in the Slovak National Uprising.

Because abortions required complicated approvals, an enterprising doctor secretly set up a sort of private practice where she offered this "service" illegally. However, the sympathetic doctor who was supposed to become a valuable helper in this business flatly refuses.

Two emigrants return home to Slovakia for a few days after many years. Karol needs to get divorced because he wants to remarry happily and advantageously. Rudo is supposed to discreetly watch over him so that he does not fail. He was hired by Karol's fiancée, who wants to have everything insured. After arriving in Bratislava, the situation for both of them unexpectedly becomes complicated. The past has caught up with them...

The myth of the anti-fascist resistance in Slovakia was one of the important themes of normalization cinema, of course, treated with an emphasis on the leading role of the communists. This primitively illustrative film depicts the heroic enthusiasm shown by the members of the resistance group, heroically and with constant commitment of life fighting against the treacherous police of the Slovak state and ultimately against the German Gestapo.

Peter and Lena had a daughter, Zuzka, soon after their wedding. Lena graduated from drama school and wanted to act, but there were no vacancies in the theater in the city where they lived, and she was forced to join a traveling troupe. Lena was away from home for months. Peter and Zuzka missed her very much. One day, Peter met Eva and fell in love with her. When Lena learned about this, she returned to the city, never to be separated from her family again.

The story of a novice teacher who manages to win over not only her students but also her colleagues. Through her activity and dedication, she manages to ensure the completion of a gymnasium that has been under construction for 3 years.

The poverty of Slovak workers during the Great Depression during the Masaryk Republic reached such a level that it led to a well-organized strike. The capitalists and their minions tried by all means to break it. Even the workers who had not yet been elected soon recognized their place and supported the initiative of the communists, who selflessly led the strike movement. The poster-like, purely ideological story succumbs to paper-like dialogues and plots, and the narrative portrayal hardly convinces of the credibility of the whole story.