The Adventures of Prince Achmed

100th Anniversary Screening! Live accompaniment by Rahim AlHaj

Watch the Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_9L7r8NIBc

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: Georges Méliès. Country: France. Released: 1905. Length: 14 min. Format: Restored DCP. Silent.

The Rahim AlHaj Trio features two-time Grammy nominee, National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings artist, and Iraqi oud virtuoso and composer Rahim AlHaj joined by Iraqi santour maestro Ahmed Albandawi and world percussion master Nick Baker. The trio perform AlHaj’s intricate compositions.

Rahim’s music delicately combines traditional Iraqi maqams with contemporary styling and influence. His compositions evoke the experience of exile from his homeland and of new beginnings in his adopted country. His pieces establish new concepts without altering the foundation of the traditional “Iraqi School of Oud.” The Rahim AlHaj Trio’s debut CD, One Sky: https://folkways.si.edu/rahim-alhaj/one-sky (Smithsonian Folkways), is a deeply immersive sonic experience as the three world-renowned musicians weave transfixing textures and melodies that transport listeners to a world of tranquility and beauty.

Rahim AlHaj will also give a solo performance in the lobby of the From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art: https://asia.si.edu/whats-on/exhibitions/from-the-louvre-masterpieces-of-islamic-art/ exhibition at 2 p.m. on October 24.

Image courtesy of Kino Lorber