Shadow Play: The Animated Films of Lotte Reiniger

The foremost pioneer of silhouette animation, German filmmaker Lotte Reiniger brought enchanting storybook worlds to life through her intricate cutouts and groundbreaking use of a proto-multiplane camera that she developed a decade before the technique was made famous by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Her gorgeous “One Thousand and One Nights”–inspired adventure THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED—thought to be the oldest surviving feature-length animated film—is presented alongside a selection of her more than sixty shorts. Drawing inspiration from fairy tales, classic children’s books, operas, and biblical stories, these dazzling jewels transport viewers to fantastical realms of the imagination as only animation can.