In the context of Czechoslovak cinema in the early 1960s, Milos Forman's first films (Black Peter and Talent Competition) amounted to a revolution. Influenced by Czech novelists who revolted against the establishment's aesthetic dogmas in the late 1950s rather than by Western cinema (though the mark of late neorealism, in particular Ermanno Olmi, is visible), Forman introduced to the cinema after 1948 (the year of the Communist coup) portrayals of working-class life untainted by the formulae of socialist realism.
There are not many directors in international film history who have specialized in productions for children and teenagers and have done so with artistic success. This is understandable because this type of genre does not immediately bring enormous profits. In the former Czechoslovakia the regular production of films for children was ensured by the existence of a nationalized film industry which put aside a certain sum for these types of films. As a result of state support, numerous films of various genres were made for children.
So far the only important woman director of the Czech cinema is V?ra Chytilov?, its most innovative and probably most controversial personality. She is the only contemporary Czech filmmaker to work in the Eisensteinian tradition. She combines didacticism with often daring experimentation, based in essence on montage. Disregarding chronology and illustrative realism, she stresses the symbolic nature of images as well as visual and conceptual shock.
