Promise at Dawn (2017)

The film is based on the eponymous autobiography by Roman Kacew, who later became the famous French writer Romain Gary, just like his mother predicted he would. The story begins one winter in Poland, where Nina Kacew (Charlotte Gainsbourg) tries hard to make ends meet. In her care, she has a small son whom she loves beyond measure and a governess. Due to their Jewish heritage, things are not going well, and soon they have to say goodbye to their servants, risk their money and move to sunny Nice. Warm and carefree France turns their hope for survival into confidence in their own powers and strengthens the already unbreakable bond between Nina and her son. 

The sweet and gentle childhood story gradually turns into a gripping drama. The audience joins Roman on the extraordinary journey that he made prior to changing his name and becoming the two-time winner of the Prix Goncourt. He was destined to become famous, and his life had it all: a childhood spent in poverty, young love, mother’s illness, a failed attempt to kill Adolf Hitler, the growing pressure of antisemitism, military mobilization, and, finally, the war.