Big Picture Film Festival - Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) + Live Score
Schedule
Sun, 31 Aug, 2025 at 02:30 pm
UTC+01:00Location
The Bear Pit | Stratford-upon-avon, EN
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Don’t miss this unique live score screening of Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed, which is the oldest surviving animated feature film in the world! This unique and wondrous film draws on The Arabian Nights (also known as One Thousand and One Nights), telling the story of a young royal who is tricked by a wicked sorcerer into flying a magical horse to far-away lands. Along the way he befriends a witch, meets Aladdin, battles demons and falls in love with a princess.
Oxford-based group Flights of Helios at The Midnight Riyaz will be performing their original music score to Reiniger’s evocative, inventive visuals.
Inspired by her childhood obsession with Chinese silhouette puppets and the magical trick films of George Méliès, Reiniger became renowned as the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation. Her innovative paper cutout style relied on fluid, expressive gestures to convey emotion and action rather than facial expressions or anatomical accuracy.
Flights of Helios have played Glastonbury, Wilderness and Truck Festival, and been played on BBC 6 Music, XFM and more. Flights of Helios at the Midnight Riyaz is the acoustic offshoot to the original band, retaining the love of drone and atmosphere and introducing a wider palette, combining tabla and other Indian percussion, ethereal vocals, bass guitar, electric guitar, violin and flute.
Ticket holders will also have access to a shadow puppet workshop at 12:15pm and a screening of the 16-minute documentary The Art of Lotte Reiniger (1970) - both taking place at The Bear Pit Theatre.
Praise for the original live score:
"A truly wonderful experience!" - Ultimate Picture Palace cinema, Oxford
“That was simply incredible, especially the drummer! Wow!” - Audience member
Praise for Flights of Helios:
"A thing of beauty" - The Line of Best Fit
“An extraordinary live spectacle, the band present a hypnotic presence which draws the audience into their world.” - Oxford Mail
"Musical grandeur that echoes the more expansive works of Radiohead or Pink Floyd." - God Is In The TV
Rated PG: Content Advice for The Adventures of Prince Achmed at BBFC
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Where is it happening?
The Bear Pit, 14 Rother Street, Stratford upon Avon, CV37 6LU, United Kingdom, Stratford-upon-avonEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
