A branch from a sub-directory?

[Gioele]

One of the modules of a project I'm working on has outgrew its parent 
project. This module lives in a sub-directory of its parent project.

I'd like to move this module to its own branch preserving its history.

Is there a way to create a branch from that directory without bringing in
the complete history of the previous branch but only the history of files
in that subdirectory?

-- 
Gioele <gioele at svario.it>