Talent Competition

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1963

Production year

1963

Premiere

28 February 1964

Runtime

81 min

Category

povídkový film

Genre

music, short-story

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Konkurs

Czech title

Konkurs

English title

Talent Competition

Summary

In 1963, Miloš Forman directed two musically-themed short films, jointly presented in cinemas under the title Konkurs (Talent Competition). The short film Kdyby ty muziky nebyly (If Only They Ain’t Had Them Bands) tells the story of two brass bands. Konkurs offers varied musical styles, but primarily focuses on the (then progressive) big beat and jazz genres. The core focus of this documentary-style tale is an audition of female singers, organised in Prague’s popular Semafor theatre. Forman takes dozens of performances of varying quality and weaves them into his first social mosaic. Into that, he adds a fictional tale of two young women – the excessively ambitious pedicurist (Markéta Krotká) and the able but highly strung singer of an amateur chorus. The latter is played by Forman’s future wife Věra Křesadlová – unlike her onscreen character, Křesadlová’s performance proved to be a winning one, securing her a place in the real-life Semafor. Many Semafor celebrities also appear in front of the camera, including Jiří Suchý, Jiří Šlitr, Hana Hegerová, and Forman’s future Černý Petr (Black Peter, 1963), the non-actor Ladislav Jakim.

Synopsis

Two short stories.

Note

The second story, Talent Competition, was shot on 16mm film in the authentic interior od the Semafor Theatre.

Film online

Production info

Original Title

Konkurs

Czech Title

Konkurs

English Title

Talent Competition

Category

povídkový film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

music, short-story

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1963

Production Year

1963

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 21 January 1963 (povídka Konkurs)
technical Screenplay approved 6 February 1963
start of filming 16 February 1963 (povídka Konkurs)
end of filming 20 March 1963 (povídka Konkurs)
literary Screenplay approved 26 June 1963 (povídka Kdyby ty muziky nebyly)
start of filming 13 July 1963 (povídka Kdyby ty muziky nebyly)
technical Screenplay approved 15 July 1963 (povídka Kdyby ty muziky nebyly)
projection approval 8 October 1963 (povídka Konkurs)
end of filming 22 October 1963 (povídka Kdyby ty muziky nebyly)
projection approval 12/1963 (povídka Kdyby ty muziky nebyly)
withdrawal from distribution 31 January 1975

Premiere

preview 21 February 1964 (kino Sevastopol /1 týden/, Praha)
premiere 28 February 1964 /suitable for youths/ (kina Jalta /3 týdny/, Radost /1 týden/, Odboj /1 týden od 6. 3./, Praha /1 týden od 6. 3./, Mír /1 týden od 13. 3./ a Bystrica /1 týden od 20. 3./, Praha)
premiere 28 February 1964 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Šebor – Bor, Vladimír Bor (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Jiří Šebor (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

81 min

Original length in metres

2 298 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech