Art Talent Show (pre-premiere)

directed by Adéla Komrzý, Tomáš Bojar, Czech Republic, 2022, 102 min., Czech language

At the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, as every year, the entrance (talent) exams take place. In three different ateliers, the film follows the backstage of the difficult task faced by the teaching staff: how to choose the ones, who will be given the opportunity to shape the form of visual art in the coming years, from the crowd of applicants? How will the teachers themselves pass this test? In the course of the exams the art itself gradually becomes the subject of the exam, too – and so does its place in the contemporary, confusing world. There’s a whole lot of questions – who are we actually making art for? Is it enough to make things driven by a feeling? Do we need to know when Tiepolo was active? Can something even manage to offend us nowadays? The kaleidoscope of discussions and opinions reveals the difficulties of evaluating artistic creation and the changing power mechanisms in educational institutions.