The Adventures of Prince Achmed: Hugo Max
Marking the centenary of this captivating, animated film, with live score performed by Hugo Max.
2026 marks the centenary of Lotte Reiniger’s historic masterpiece, ‘The Adventures of Prince Achmed’ (1926). It is the earliest surviving feature length film in animation history. The film is an enchanting amalgamation of stories from the Arabian Nights animated in cut paper silhouettes and featuring special effects using sand, wax, and soap.
Celebrating this landmark film, violist Hugo Max has been commissioned by the British Film Institute to create a new live score for the film.
About ‘The Adventures of Prince Achmed’
Writer and Director, Lotte Reiniger designed a multiplane animation table on which she and her team of avant-garde artists innovated and animated over 250,000 frames from 1923-1926.
Created in an attic in Potsdam, ‘Prince Achmed’ premiered in a private press screening at the Volksbühne Theater in Berlin on 2 May 1926. It continued to Paris, where it premiered publicly to rave reviews at the Comédie des Champs- Elysées on 1 July 1926. It returned triumphantly to Berlin, where it enjoyed an extended run at the Gloria-Palast from 3 September 1926. ‘The Adventures of Prince Achmed’ has endured as a dazzling – if often overlooked – monument in film history, an exquisite artifact of Weimar Cinema. It is a genre defying experiment in melding international folk art traditions with the technical possibilities of a new medium.
About Hugo Max
Hugo Max is a musician and filmmaker based in London. He performs live scores to silent films on solo viola, regularly soundtracking screenings at London’s Prince Charles Cinema and Picturehouse Cinemas across the UK. He has presented nationwide tours focussing on silent horror, expressionism, the films of F. W. Murnau and Alfred Hitchcock, making solo appearances at many of the country’s landmark venues including the BFI Southbank, Bo’ness’ Hippodrome and Tyneside Cinema.
His films have been programmed by the Austrian Film Museum, TIFF Cinematheque and Modern Art Oxford and are distributed by sixpackfilm. He has previously devised ensemble projects at the Holywell Music Room, London’s Close-Up and the Locarno Film Festival and has lectured on improvisation and interdisciplinary practice at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Images © Richard Ecclestone
Amplified performance
Band A: £15 (£13.50 Friends*)
Band B: £10 (£9 Friends*)
Students and Under 18s: £8
Schools: £8
Ticket prices vary by seating location.
* Friends membership benefits may vary.
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