The Firemen's Ball (Horí, má panenko)Forman's last Czech film before leaving for the US is a widely acclaimed satire of a small town's annual firemen's ball that drifts inexorably into chaos.
Based on real events witnessed by the director and his co-scriptwriters (Ivan Passer and Jaroslav Papousek), the film features a combination of professional actors and actual firemen.
A perceived allegory of state corruption, it was banned during the crackdown that followed the Prague Spring and 40,000 firemen reportedly resigned in protest until the meaning of the film was explained to them!
