Celebrating Lotte Reiniger: The pioneer of paper silhouette animation

Join us for a double feature on Lotte Reiniger, a short documentary, The Art of Lotte Reiniger, followed by The Adventures of Prince Achmed.

Join us for an evening celebrating Lotte Reiniger , the long overlooked woman pioneer of paper silhouette animation, who was making animated films ten years before Disney. We will present two screenings: a short documentary, The Art of Lotte Reiniger , a 17 minute documentary from 1970 which includes a demonstration of her techniques in cutting, constructing and filming a silhouette character, as well as extracts from several of her films. This will be followed by a screening of The Adventures of Prince Achmed , hailed as the first ever feature-length animated film, which was made entirely with paper silhouette figures hand-cut by Reiniger. Follow the story of Prince Achmed, who foils a magician’s evil plan and soars headlong into a series of wondrous adventures – joining forces with Aladdin and the Witch of the Fiery Mountains, doing battle with the sorcerer’s army of monsters and demons, and falling in love with the beautiful Prince Peri Banu. This cinematic treasure has been beautifully restored with its spectacular color tinting and with a new orchestral recording of the magnificent 1926 score by Wolfgang Zeller. Thrilling, sensuous and dazzling, Prince Achmed will enthrall children and film enthusiasts of all ages.
ABOUT LOTTE REINIGER
Charlotte “Lotte” Reiniger (2 June 1899 – 19 June 1981) was a German film director and the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation. Her best known films are The Adventures of Prince Achmed, from 1926—thought to be one of the oldest surviving feature-length animated films—and Papageno (1935). Reiniger is also noted for having devised the first form of a multiplane camera; she made more than 40 films, all using her invention.
Click here to learn more about Lotte Reiniger.
PRAISE
“No one else has taken a specific animation technique and made it so utterly her own. To date she has no rival, and for all practical purposes the history of silhouette animation begins and ends with Reiniger.” –Philip Kemp, film historian at the British Film Institute
This event is in conjunction with the exhibition, Paper Weight: Works in Paper by Elsa Mora.