Selected by the Animation Branch.

Considered the oldest surviving animated feature, The Adventures of Prince Achmed is a stunning saga that combines meticulous hand-crafted animation with an epic tale. Adapting “One Thousand and One Nights,” the film tells of a wicked sorcerer who tricks Prince Achmed into a fateful journey. Filmmaker Lotte Reiniger devised a groundbreaking silhouette technique for the film and the resulting work remains a high-water mark of animation, referenced in films such as Fantasia (1940) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).