Magic scissors - The Art Of Lotte Reiniger


Last sunday the fashion designers Victor & Rolf were guests on the Dutch tv programme Zomergasten ("Summerguests"). They were invited to show excerpts from movies/television and explain why they wanted to share these. The first film of their choice was a part of "Cinderella" by Lotte Reiniger. The interesting opening scene with scissors and the strong black silhouettes were a clear connection with the work of V&R.

For me this was a first introduction to Lotte Reinigers work. Lotte Reiniger made silhouette movies in the early 20th century. She used shadow puppets and a stop motion technique. Truly amazing!

I tried to find a fragment of the same Cinderella on YouTube, but unfortunately I could only find a version from 1954. Apparently the folks in the fifties thought a silent movie was "so 1920s" so they decided to add a narrator. I preferred it with just music.

However I did find a part of a documentary,


and a beautiful movie "Das Lebende Marmorbild (Calathea)",

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