The Adventures of Prince Achmed

Where: Meyer Auditorium. 100th Anniversary Screening! Live accompaniment by Rahim AlHaj / / Watch the Trailer / / Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 adaptation of tales from The Thousand and One Nights is widely believed to be the very first animated feature film. The Adventures of Prince Achmed uses striking silhouette cutouts inspired by traditional Indonesian wayang shadow puppets and gorgeous color tinting. These methods bring to life the story of an Arabian prince who is whisked away on a flying horse to an enchanted land where he tangles with an evil sorcerer, rescues a princess, and joins forces with none other than Aladdin. Painstakingly composed frame by frame over the course of three years by Reiniger, this landmark work is both an enchanting storybook saga and a retina-delighting triumph of visual imagination. Description adapted from the Criterion Collection. / / Presented in a digital restoration by DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum e.V. / / Director: Lotte Reiniger. Country: Germany. Released: 1926. Length: 65 min. Format: Restored DCP. Silent with English intertitles. Opening Short Film: The Palace of the Arabian Nights / A true cinema pioneer, Georges Méliès specialized in “trick films,” which used early special effects to craft whimsical fantasies such as this one, probably the first film adaptation of The Thousand and One Nights . It depicts the adventures of a brave prince who goes on a dangerous mystical quest to win the hand of his beloved. / / Director: Georg…