VINTAGE GEMS & CLASSICS

To view our range of Vintage Gems & Classics click here.

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Vintage Gems

Over the years Concord has acquired for distribution many original and unique short films. We have decided now to call them our ‘Vintage Gems’. Our Vintage Gem films can be watched and enjoyed by anyone. They are often amusing but at the same time carry an important and timeless message. They are usually no more than ten minutes long and a number of them are cartoons or animated in some way. ‘Perfect of their type’ they can be used in many situations as a catalyst for discussion, as well as simply enjoyed.

Attention – Classic Czech prize-winning anti-war cartoon. Vivid, dramatic, witty. 12 minutes.

For Your Pleasure – Witty cartoon which starts with Constable’s painting of ‘The Haywain’ and gradually this peaceful scene is transformed into a motorway city of the future. 4 minutes.

Histoire du Soldat Inconnu – Remarkable combination of newsreels powerfully satirising the signing of the Kellogg Pact to outlaw war. 10 minutes.

It’s a Grand Life – An intellectual and powerful attack on a civilisation which feeds on war and threat of war. Medieval death dances, concentration camps, and pop songs; a shattering juxtaposition of contradicting elements. The ending is eloquent in an unforgettable way. 11 Minutes.

Neighbours – A film parable made using the pixilation technique. Beginning with laughter as two men argue about a flower growing on the boundary between their gardens, it tension develops to horror and death; an arresting, and at times amusing, film with a lesson. 9 minutes.

The Hangman – “All that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing” (Edmund Burke). A mysterious hangman arrives in town. He and his gallows feed on the blood of his victims as gradually the town is depopulated. No one dares to raise a voice against the outrage. Compelling animation. 11 minutes.

The Red Stain – A beautifully created Czech cartoon about a father and son, and how the little boy overcomes the powers of destruction.14 minutes.

What on Earth – Classic cartoon which shows life on earth as one long unending conga-line of cars, which the visiting Martian judge to be the true inhabitants of earth – while we seem to be parasites infesting them!

The Big If – If only all the money spent on arms could be spent on food, housing and health the world would be a better place. The Big If! (Only available as a compilation DVD with ‘Booom’). 10 minutes.

Booom – An amusing and thoughtful cartoon on the arms race throughout history. (Only available as a compilation DVD with The Big If!) 10 minutes.To See or Not to See – A psychiatrist ‘invents’ spectacles to cure a patient’s inferiority complex – with disastrous results! A humorous cartoon about how we perceive things subjectively. 16 minutes.

Why Me? – Nesbitt Spoon learns that he has only five minutes to live. This classic animated film shows Nesbitt going through caricatures of all the recognised responses to learning of one’s imminent demise. Like a good joke this film says a lot and provides a useful stimulus to discussion. 10 minutes.

Homo Homini – Animated film which shows Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ trying to create a better world but each solution creates further problems. Homo Homini also comes with the short 2 minute film Acceleration – a quick cartoon which brings mankind from the Garden of Eden to the Space Age, with the implied question has there been that much progress after all. 11 minutes & 2 minutes

Classics

Some films in Concord’s catalogue were made many years ago. They are often black and white and their ‘production values’ are of their time, and frankly they can sometimes be a little difficult to watch for the modern viewer! However, in our opinion a lot of these films more than stand the test of time in terms of what they offer, and in some cases are literally irreplaceable in that the circumstances or conditions that the film describes have now disappeared forever. We have therefore classified a number of these films as ‘Classics’. 

When you see this description on a film it alerts you to the fact that it’s ‘old-fashioned’ in some way. It may be that it’s a bit grainy and jolts now and again, or it may be that some of the information and opinions expressed in the film are not contemporary – and on occasion may even be a bit offensive to the more modern ear. But these films are often dealing with feelings and emotions, which don’t change much, and so the real value of the film endures. And some of them offer an insight into the conditions of the past which may provide insight to our actions now.

They are all one-offs, and are invaluable in many ways.

You will see these Classics films in many categories of our films throughout this website.

ANTHROPOLOGY

Over the years Concord has acquired an interesting and varied collection of programmes about all sorts of human culture and development around the world.

CASE STUDIES