Firemen's Ball

A legendary tragicomedy about a volunteer firemen’s ball in a provincial town. The film is a satire centered on a town during the communist regime and ranks among the most exquisite pieces in the family silver of Czech cinematography. Today considered a masterpiece of the Czechoslovak New Wave, at the time it was rejected by both the state film industry and (unexpectedly) foreign co-producer Carlo Ponti. The film received an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Film category.

Synopsis

Have you ever been to a fireman's ball? In this film you will experience one. It has everything a traditional fireman's ball should have: an award for a retired chairman who finds the party more misery than fun, a raffle from which everything is stolen during the course of the evening, and a beauty pageant during which the contestants hide in the restroom. There will also be a fire. In director Miloš Forman's comedy, real firefighters also star, which makes the plot all the more believable.