This is a stunning film when you consider that it's all made of paper cutouts on colored backgrounds. I think I read somewhere that it's the oldest stop-motion animated film and it was directed by a woman. The original print and negative were lost but it was restored from a British print in 1999.Told entirely in paper silhouettes, the film tells several of the 1001 Arabian Nights tales about Prince Achmed, an evil sorcerer, a magic flying horse, a beautiful maiden rescued from a land of demons, Aladdin and the magic lamp, and more. The cutouts are beautifully intricate and it's clear a lot of effort went into this film.
I know silent films aren't for everyone but I really encourage you to take the time to watch it, not just for the technical achievements on display but to see an art form in its earliest stage. People were still experimenting with what movies could be and Weimar-era Germany was a goldmine for creativity and boundary pushing. It's currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.
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