El Apóstol
| El Apóstol | |
|---|---|
The advertising flyer for the film | |
| Directed by | Quirino Cristiani |
| Written by | Alfonso de Laferrére |
| Produced by | Federico Valle |
| Animation by | Quirino Cristiani |
| Backgrounds by | Andrés Ducaus |
Release date |
|
Running time | 70 minutes |
| Country | Argentina |
| Language | silent |
El Apóstol (English: The Apostle) was a 1917 lost Argentine animated film, directed and produced by Quirino Cristiani and Federico Valle respectively. Historians consider it the world's first animated feature film. Production began after the success of Cristiani and Valle's short film La intervención a la provincia de Buenos Aires, lasting either less than ten months or twelve months; accounts differ. Its script was written by Alfonso de Laferrére, the background models of Buenos Aires were created by Andrés Ducaud, and the initial character designs were drawn by Diógenes Taborda.
El Apóstol is a satire based on Argentina's then-president Hipólito Yrigoyen. In the film, Yrigoyen dreams about going to Mount Olympus and discussing politics with the gods before using one of Zeus's lightning bolts to cleanse Buenos Aires of corruption. Well received at the time in Buenos Aires, it was not distributed beyond that city. The film was destroyed in a 1926 fire in Valle's studio.