1964, Démanty noci, Czechoslovakia, Language: German, Czech, Subtitle: Hungarian and English (65'); Introduction by Michal Bregant (Czech National Film Archive), Q&A with Eva Lustigová. Screening: 09.06, 15.00, Toldi Cinema, Kisterem

Alongside well-known Czech writers there were a few lesser recognized yet still superb authors (from the 1960s and 70s), such as Arnošt Lustig, also a fine screenwriter and a former prisoner at Auschwitz. Numerous filmmakers worked on his books, including Jan Nemec who directed Diamonds of the Night. According to Lustig: “…the film has a biographical nature, everything happened largely as it is shown in the film. In 1945, I along with my fellow prisoners jumped off the train transporting us to Dachau concentration camp. We hadn’t eaten for six days prior to this, which is why we were starving when we reached the village. I was given the task of killing the woman seen in the film.” Virtually every frame of one of the most significant Holocaust films is based on the memories of Lustig.

Directed by: Jan Němec
Written by: Arnošt  Lustig
Screenplay by: Jan Němec, Arnošt Lustig
Director of photography: Jaroslav Kučera
Music by: Vlastimil Hála, Jan Rychlík        
Cast: Ladislav Jánsky, Antonín Kumbera, Ilse Bischofova, Jan Riha, Ivan Asić, August Bischof
Genre: drama, war
Production: Ceskoslovenský Filmexport
Format: black and white, 1.37:1 

With an introduction by Michal Bregant. Q&A with Eva Lustigová, Arnold Lustig's daughter.

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