Abandoned 11-year-old Polin sent to state orphanage, faces abuse by staff. Inmates plan escape amid adolescent struggles. When opportunity arises, Polin learns freedom's price.

CHRONICLE OF A BOY ALONE, is an indictment of a fascist regime running roughshod over its most vulnerable citizens, its children. Focusing on the bleak life of eleven-year-old bad boy Polin, who's been abandoned by his family and sent to live in a state-run orphanage, it's also a moving portrait of the human spirit imprisoned by the chains of well-intentioned fools. Inside the harsh confines of the supposedly beneficial institution, Polin and his fellow inmates must deal with constant physical and psychological abuse by the staff, as well as the natural emotional tensions brought on by their own burgeoning adolescence. But through it all, they manage to keep their hopes alive with optimistic talk of freedom and bold plans of escape. One day, when the opportunity finally arises, and Polin learns that freedom, too, has its price.—Jim Stark