The Czechoslovak New Wave - A Collection (4 DVD)

A 3-disc set comprising three integral features from the most creative period of Czechoslovak cinema. Despite being made under the gaze of Government censors, these films achieved a miraculous marriage of content and form despite the most oppressive circumstances. Set includes:

Diamonds of the Night (1964): Nemec's debut feature 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.

Intimate Lighting (1965): One of the most highly-regarded films of the 60s, Passer's wonderfully subtle comedy of provincial life concerns the dreams of two musician friends, one of whom, having left their small hometown to become successful, returns to visit the other who stayed behind to become a local music teacher. A work of great originality and universal acceptance.

The Cremator (1968): Set in Prague during the Nazi occupation, this chilling mix of Dr Strangelove and Repulsion, is a pitch-black comedy of horrors featuring an outstanding performance by the great Rudolf Hrusínský as a professional cremator, for whom the political climate allows free rein to his increasingly deranged impulses for the 'salvation of the world'.