Black Peter

Czech director Milos Forman won first prize at the Locarno film festival for his first feature film, Black Peter. This coming-of-age story about a shy teenager who falls in love, bears the heavy influence of Francois Truffaut, as do most other new wave productions of the era. Even at this early stage, however, Forman's film-making prowess enabled him to transcend any and all imitations. In some areas, the film bore the title Peter and Pavla, reflecting the fact that pretty young Pavla Martinkova played the girl. Black Peter was originally released in Czechoslovakia in 1963 under the title Cerny Petr.