Die Biene Maja - The Adventures of Maya - L'Ape Maia (Stummfilm, D 1925)

DIE BIENE MAJA wurde 1924 von Wolfgang Junghans mit lebenden Insekten als weltweit ersten Naturfilm mit Spielfilmhandlung in Szene gesetzt. Auch heute noch überzeugt dieser kuriose Film mit seiner humorvollen Erzählung, seinen eindrucksvollen Detailaufnahmen - und mit seiner neuen Musik von Florian C. Reithner. Demnächst zu sehen und zu hören in Filmkonzerten des Ensemble FILMHARMONIE in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz! www.filmharmonie.at The most famous bee of the world celebrates its centenary: since its first edition in 1912 more than 2 million copies of Waldemar Bonsel's children's book "The Adventures of Maya the Bee" have been sold all over the world. In 1924 the Berlin Kulturfilm company decided to adapt the famous book into a feature film - starring live insects! The biologist and documentary film director Wolfram Junghans therefor built a terrarium at the Berlin Zoo, which served as a miniature film studio. The film took two years in the making, with 164.000 ft of raw footage shot of which only 7.400 ft made it into the final film. But the film was worth the effort: for the first time, a feature film story is told only by insects, depicting the microcosm of bee hives and their environs in every detail, and narrated with good humour. The film has its poetic and its dramatic moments (the dung beetle Kurt rescues Maya from the cobweb of the evil garden spider Thekla) and a stunning battle scene (hornets vs. bees). with a cast of thousands. This IS the bee's knees - this is the smallest epic of the motion picture history which will leave you buzzing with excitement! www.filmharmonie.at