1. Interview with Mr. Miloš Forman, on the Czech cinema during the communism, and a few other
things. It was taken in March 2009.
Miloš Forman (born February 18, 1932) is a Czech-
American film director, screenwriter, actor and
professor. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in
the history of film, both garnering him with the Academy
Award as a director. He was also nominated for The
People vs. Larry Flynt.
Viasat History: What kind of similarity do you think there is
between the Czech cinema and the one in other former
communist countries, like Romania? After all, they all
experienced the same kind of treatment, censorship, persecution.
Milos Forman: A talent to create can not be ordered, bought, taught, or manufactured by
anybody. It is a gift from nature (or God, if you wish). The talented filmmakers existed in
Romania, as in Czechoslovakia, and shared during the totalitarian regime the same fate.
According to the degree of their conformity, the filmmakers were either supported, ignored or
even suppressed by the authorities. But that was their individual decision, the same in both
countries.
VH: What kind of social-cultural exchange was there between these countries? For example, your
professor, Milan Kundera, was enabled by the government to realize a study visit in Romania,
during the 1950s. Did you ever consider doing that?
MF: I wished, but being not a Party member I didn’t have a chance.
VH: What was your relation with the artists/ directors/ actors in other communist countries?
MF: Very shy and timid when an official translator was present, but warm when left alone with
some.
VH: After the Prague invasion, Nicolae Ceausescu was one of the few Eastern European leaders
that infringed the Moscow action. Being right in the middle of the Czech cultural life, what kind of
reaction did you noticed towards him and Romanians generally? Did it facilitate/ encourage better
relationship/ cultural collaboration etc?
MF: The reaction to Ceausescu among intellectuals in Czechoslovakia was full of contradictions.
As an enemy of my enemy (Stalin) he was my friend, but as a communist dictator he was an
enemy of us all.
VH: The socialist ideology considered that cinema was not an art, but an instrument of ideological
influence. What do you think of that and how much do you think this influenced the way cinema
was treated in the communist Europe?
MF: Considered as a tool of political propaganda by the communists the cinema ( as well as all
other art forms ) was stripped of all its excitement and heart.
VH: Why, do you think, the Czech cinema in the 50s-60s-70s had directors that enjoyed such
appreciation in film festivals, both European an international, unlike the Romanian one, that had
only 2 directors to ever win a Cannes award during those years (Popescu Gopo and Liviu Ciulei)?
Was it because of the quality of teaching, the school, or was it just because of political
background?
MF: It is simpler than that. Nobody is perfect. Not even the political and ideological watchdogs.
And these must have been in the sixties much more efficient in your country than in
Czechoslovakia.

2. VH: When is your Ghost of Munich due to premiere?
MF: Probably never, because Pathé, the production company, didn’t find the financing for the
film.