The debut feature from Jan Němec (director of The Party and the Guests, recently voted by New York Critics as one of the best films of the 60's), Diamonds of the Night is one of the most thrilling and startlingly original works of cinema. Told almost without dialogue, it chronicles the tense and desperate journey of two teenage boys who are trying to stay alive after escaping from a German train bound for a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.

With its virtuoso cinematography, inspired editing and brilliantly utilised soundtrack, the film is a landmark of the ill-fated Czech New Wave. Its themes of man's perpetual struggle to preserve human dignity in the face of unimaginable horrors are just as relevant today.