Forman’s last film in his homeland, The Firemen’s Ball has been called the finest example of the Czech New Wave’s trademark mix of warm humanism joined to stinging social commentary.

Here the focus is a small-town fire department’s hapless attempt to throw a party, which quickly collapses into comic mayhem. (71 mins., 35mm)

Audition, his first major work, mixes documentary and fiction in a humorous vein as it charts the dreams and delusions of people involved in different kinds of competition, set to a stirring soundtrack of Czech pop, folk, and classical music. (77 mins., 35mm)

Second film starts at 8:20 PM

This touring retrospective was organized by Jytte Jensen, curator in the department of film at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, with the kind collaboration of the Czech Center New York; The National Film Archive, Prague; and Irena Kovarova, independent film curator and tour manager.