“We torture our students.” Film Movement has revealed an official trailer for a documentary film titled Art Talent Show, a peculiar creation from the two Czech filmmakers Tomás Bojar & Adéla Komrzý. This first premiered at the 2022 Karlovy Vary Film Festival in Czechia, and it also stopped by the IDFA, Docs Against Gravity, and True/False Film Festivals last year as well. In the vein of Frederick Wiseman’s work, Art Talent Show offers insightful commentary on the intergenerational cultural dissonance surrounding contemporary topics like identity politics and social justice in relation to art and its practice. A “documentary less about art or talent than about the Sisyphean task of assessing one and nurturing the other”, the filmmakers take a sensitive and ultimately light-hearted approach to the examination of art school admission (to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague). The film wonders: “How do you assess artistic talent? And what role can art play in today’s world?” A layered, observational documentary which presents a portrait of an institution and a light generational statement in one. Seems like it gets crazy! Take a look below if you’re curious to find out more.

Here’s the US trailer (+ poster) for Tomás Bojar & Adéla Komrzý’s doc Art Talent Show, from YouTube:

Year after year, talent admission exams are held at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague to determine who among the many applicants will earn a coveted spot at the 220-year-old institution. By extension, those chosen might also set the tone in the fine arts world for years to come. Professors from each of the school’s subdisciplines interrogate the nervous young applicants, who in turn must not only present their work but also answer for their own artistic beliefs and practice. Equally exhausted by this process, the instructors are confronted by their own set of questions: how can and should artistic talent be assessed? What role do institutions such as the Academy play in the 21st century? What does the next generation of great artists look like? Art Talent Show is co-directed by Czech filmmakers Tomás Bojar (also of Good Old Czechs) & Adéla Komrzý (also of Intensive Life Unit) making their first film together. Produced by Jakub Wagner. This initially premiered at the 2022 Karlovy Vary Film Festival last year. Film Movement debuts Art Talent Show in select US theaters (NY only) starting on March 22nd, 2024. For more info, visit their official site

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