Grosman published his precursor to the screenplay of '' Obchod na korze '' , the short story " The Trap " ( '' Past '' ) , in Czech in 1962 . Only three of its themes made it into the film . He subsequently reworked and expanded it in Czech , as a literary-narrative screenplay published in 1964 under the title " The Shop on Main Street " ( '' Obchod na korze '' ) . It contained what would become the film 's storyline , although not in the usual ( American ) screenplay format . He then reworked it into a shooting script with Slovak dialogues in cooperation with the film 's designated directors Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos . The film , which looks at Jewish life and Aryanization in Slovakia during World War II , was critically acclaimed , winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 38th Academy Awards . Author Ewa Mazierska compares his work to Bohumil Hrabal in that his literary works typically contained the perfect mixture of comedy and tragedy
38th Academy Awards
38th Academy Awards
Ladislav Grosman