Directing
Ján Kadár (1 April 1918 – 1 June 1979) was a Czechoslovak filmmaker.
An epic exploration of the Czechoslovak New Wave cinema of the 1960s and 70s, structured around a series of conversations with one of its most acclaimed exponents - Closely Observed Trains director Jiří Menzel.
In a small town in Nazi-occupied Slovakia during World War II, decent but timid carpenter Tono is named "Aryan comptroller" of a button store owned by an old Jewish widow, Rozalie. Since the post comes with a salary and standing in the town's corrupt hierarchy, Tono wrestles with greed and guilt as he and Rozalie gradually befriend each other. When the authorities order all Jews in town to be rounded up, Tono faces a moral dilemma unlike any he's known before.
Managers at the construction of a big hydro plant are accused of having embezzled money.
The sad hero of the story, Petr, an ordinary lawyer in a construction company, is crowded into a small apartment in Žižkov with his wife and grandparents, desperately struggling with the lack of money. One day he offers an old man a seat on a crowded trolley bus and is generously rewarded for his good deed, for the unknown old man is a fabulous grandfather. He gives Peter a magic bell and the opportunity to make three wishes, but the first two slip through his fingers. For the third, the astonished man must take time to think...
A Jewish boy grows up in 1920s Montreal with a grandfather who tells stories and a father who won't work.
A documentary about the 11th All-Sokol Rally in Prague in 1948, focusing in the first part on performances by schoolchildren, youth days, and their parade.
Strong-willed peasant girl Katka disobeys her father and heads to the city to work in a factory, where no one knows quite what to make of her.
A fisherman saves Anada, a woman adrift, from drowning. He takes her to his home, and protects her. Eventually, she occupies a larger place than was to be expected. He commits adultery with her, but his own wife seems to be in love with the strange young woman.
The employees of the furniture company MARS welcome a rare visitor with hired music. Their boast that they would put together an orchestra is taken seriously, so they receive a small gift - musical instruments for thirty musicians.