The Shop on Main Street

In this Oscar-winning classic, celebrating its 50th anniversary, an unassuming Slovak carpenter becomes “Aryan controller” of a Jewish widow’s shop, forcing him to choose between complicity and conscience as the shadow of fascism descends.

Set in a small Slovak town during WWII, the film follows Tóno, a humble, apolitical carpenter who dreams of a quiet life. When the Nazi authorities introduce the policy of “Aryanisation”, he is offered an opportunity: to take over a tiny button shop owned by an elderly Jewish widow (portrayed by Ida Kamińska, who received a Special Mention at the Cannes FF for this role). Illiterate, frail, and confused about the new laws, she’s made to believe Tóno has come to help her rather than take her livelihood. What begins as an awkward arrangement soon turns into a fragile friendship – one that will test his morality as the machinery of fascism grinds closer. Torn between survival and doing what is right, he faces an impossible choice in a world collapsing under the weight of hatred.

Though made 50 years ago, the film’s examination of complicity, fear, and the moral costs of indifference resonates strongly today, as Europe witnesses the rise of far-right politics and populist movements.

The screening will be introduced by Sarah A. Cramsey, a historian at Leiden University and Assistant Professor of Judaism & Diaspora Studies, as well as Director of the Austria Centre Leiden.

Programme section: Old Gold
Original title: Obchod na Korze | Year: 1965 | Duration: 128′
Country: Czechoslovakia | Language: Slovak, German, Yiddish, Latin | Subtitles: English
Director: Ján Kadár, Elmar Klos | Production: Filmove studio Barrandov | Cast: Ida Kamińska, Jozef Kroner, František Zvarík, Hana Slivková, Martin Hollý | Screenplay: Ladislav Grosman, Ján Kadár, Elmar Klos | Cinematography: Vladimír Novotný | Editing: Jaromír Janáček

FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION) 

Academy Awards, USA – Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film (1966), Best Actress Nominee (1967) | Cannes Film Festival, 1965 – Special Mention to Jozef Kroner, Ida Kamińska for acting | David di Donatello Awards, 1967 – Golden Plate for the production | Golden Globes, USA, 1967 – Best Actress Nominee | Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards, 1966 – Best Foreign Film | New York Film Critics Circle Awards, 1966 – Best Foreign Language Film | Pilsen Film Festival, 1968 – Audience Award

DIRECTOR’S BIO 

Ján Kadár (1918–1979) was a Slovak film writer and director of Jewish heritage. As a filmmaker, he worked in Czechoslovakia, USA, and Canada. Most of his films were directed in tandem with Elmar Klos. He also directed a Golden Globe-winning film, “Lies My Father Told Me” in 1975. As a professor at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Kadár trained most of the directors who spawned the Czechoslovak New Wave in the 1960s. He was a dean at the American Film Institute.

Elmar Klos (1910–1993) was a Czech film director. He collaborated for 17 years with his Slovak colleague Ján Kadár and with him won the 1965 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for the film “The Shop on Main Street”. They directed the 1963 film “Death Is Called Engelchen”, which won a Golden Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival.