Selection

A dry, quietly chilling fly-on-the-wall record of bureaucratic minds deciding what art is allowed to be.

Directed by

Gyula Gazdag

Genres

Documentary

Overview

SELECTION documents a KISZ (Hungarian Young Communist League) chapter at an oil refinery that is interested in hiring a musical act as entertainment for young workers. The documentary shows the group discussing their criteria for the band, as well as their interviews with the individual bands. It is quickly apparent that the group isn’t interested in any sort of musical talent or the potential audiences’ interest. Rather, they are focused on ideological or moral issues that may be perceived as negative, such as groupies or outfits that are seen as too trendy. They settle on the musical group that is potentially the easiest to control, the youngest band. SELECTION works as a larger metaphor for what censorship was like in Socialist Hungary and was banned from being publicly screened until 1982.

How it feels

Slow-burning and demanding.

About

Politics, power, media, art

Content

No violence, gore, sexual content or swearing.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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