Moderation: Goggo Gensch
Guests: Prof. Dr. Susanne Nicole Marschall (Filmmaker and Chair of Audiovisual Media, University of Tübingen)
Dr. Evamarie Blattner (Deputy Director, Tübingen City Museum)
Tanz der Schatten
...or "Dance of Shadows" is the title of the documentary film that showcases the relevance of Lotte Reiniger, whose work continues to inspire young animation artists worldwide to this day. Film artists such as Michel Ocelot and Hannes Rall comment on the impact of Reiniger's work, which extends into the magical world of Harry Potter through the animations of Ben Hibon. The film delves into the life experiences of the artist and includes newly discovered material showing Lotte Reiniger at work on her final films in Canada.
The documentary film "Tanz der Schatten" was produced at the Chair of Film and Television Studies at the Institute of Media Studies at the University of Tübingen. Supported by a professional film team and in collaboration with the Tübingen City Museum, faculty members and master's students worked together on the ambitious project of rediscovering this significant film artist through film.
Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed
The silhouette film "Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed" is based on motifs from "1001 Nights" and tells the adventurous journey of Prince Achmed, which begins at the court of the great Caliph.
This film, created over three years, entered film history as the first full-length animated feature: Lotte Reiniger wrote the storyboard, cut the characters and backgrounds, and moved them, assisted by Alexander Kardan and Walter Türck. Her husband Carl Koch managed the shooting and technical control, Walther Ruttmann, a film expressionist and director (including "Berlin, Symphonie einer Großstadt"), designed the fantastic movements in the battle of the demons of Wak-Wak, while experimental filmmaker Berthold Bartosch created the wave movements for the sea storm. Considering that 24 individual shots are needed for one second, one can appreciate the effort behind the first full-length animated feature film in history. In total, about 250,000 individual frames were shot, with 100,000 used for the film.
