Lotte in the Land of Shadows: L. Reiniger - Avant-Garde of the Animation Film (1899-1981)

Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum invites you to the exhibition “Lotte in the Land of Shadows: L. Reiniger - Avant-Garde of the Animation Film (1899-1981)” - the first ever exhibition in Georgia of Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger - a German film director, and a pioneer of animated film and silhouette animation. The exhibition is a multi-screen video installation and is a unique opportunity to get to know the extremely rich and authentic creativity of the world's leading artist of animation.

The video installation features 11 animated films created between 1926 and 1955, which are perfect examples of a new art form - a silhouette film created by Lotte Reiniger.

Lotte Reiniger has created over 60 animated films, of which 11 are considered lost and only 50 survived. Her works include black-and-white and color films, which are preserved in the archives of Europe - England, France, Germany, and Canada.

Lotte Reiniger was undeniably an acclaimed artist. However, her innovative, rich, and self-contained works are still to be explored and discovered. Certain contradictions between the specifics of the chosen medium and the content with which Reiniger worked became a prerequisite for her universal "misrecognition": the animated film is, according to a certain stereotype, a children's medium, while the plots of Lotte Reiniger's films are, in fact, not so childish and mostly based on myths, It is inspired by parables, but also by fairy tales; Also, the artistic techniques, including irony, which the artist uses to create the aesthetics of her films and artistic handwriting in general, are not for children.

Therefore the role that Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger played in developing the aesthetics and technique of animated film remains to be explored and evaluated. As well as how, following her example, animated cinema became the medium of emancipated, strong, educated, free, professional women in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century.

The exhibition “Lotte in the Land of Shadows” Features the following films by Lotte Reiniger: “The Adventures of Prince Ahmed” (1926), “Cinderella” (1954), “Thumbelina” (1954), “The Sleeping Beauty” (1954), “The Three Wishes” (1954), “The Frog Prince” (1954), “The Grasshopper and the Ant” (1954), “Caliph Stork” (1954), “Snow white and Rose red” (1954), “The Gallant Little Tailor” (1954), “Hansel and Gretel” (1955). The exhibition includes films made between 1926 and 1955.


The author of the sound installation for the exhibition is Giorgi Koberidze.

The exhibition is organized by Georgian Animators’ Association – SaqAnima and film center "Georgian Film - Abkhazeti"
The exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth of Georgia and Tbilisi City Hall.