Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will), made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party. Riefenstahl's prominence in the Third Reich along with her personal friendship with Adolf Hitler thwarted her film career following Germany's defeat in World War II, after which she was arrested but released without any charges.
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will), made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party. Riefenstahl's prominence in the Third Reich along with her personal friendship with Adolf Hitler thwarted her film career following Germany's defeat in World War II, after which she was arrested but released without any charges.
Triumph of the Will gave Riefenstahl instant and lasting international fame, as well as infamy. Although she directed only eight films, just two of which received significant coverage outside of Germany, Riefenstahl was widely known all her life. The propaganda value of her films made during the 1930s repels most modern commentators but many film histories cite the aesthetics as outstanding. The Economist wrote that Triumph of the Will "sealed her reputation as the greatest female filmmaker of the 20th century".
In the 1970s Riefenstahl published her still photography of the Nuba tribes in Sudan in several books such as The Last of the Nuba. She was active up until her death and also published marine life stills and released the marine-based film Impressionen unter Wasser in 2002.
After her death, the Associated Press described Riefenstahl as an "acclaimed pioneer of film and photographic techniques". Der Tagesspiegel newspaper in Berlin noted, "Leni Riefenstahl conquered new ground in the cinema". The BBC said her documentaries "were hailed as groundbreaking film-making, pioneering techniques involving cranes, tracking rails, and many cameras working at the same time".
Description above from the Wikipedia article Leni Riefenstahl, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0726166
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55415
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Filmography (Movies)
FASCISM(s): A Film in Six Parts
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:02/03/2025
Riefenstahl
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:29/08/2024
City of Toys
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:26/08/2024
Leni Riefenstahl - The End of a Myth
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:22/10/2020
Eiskalte Leidenschaft - Leni Riefenstahl und Arnold Fanck zwischen Hitler und Hollywood
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:20/06/2018
Hitler's Hollywood
Character:Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Release Date:23/02/2017
Les Champions d'Hitler
Character:Self
Release Date:02/05/2016
LENI
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:01/01/2015
In the Service of the Regime. Leni Riefenstahl
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:01/05/2009
Speer und er: Nachspiel - Die Täuschung
Character:Herself
Release Date:12/05/2005
The Goebbels Experiment
Character:Self (archival footage)
Release Date:13/04/2005
Leni Riefenstahl: Her Dream of Africa
Character:Self
Release Date:28/09/2003
Underwater Impressions
Character:
Release Date:21/08/2002
The Immoderation of Me - Sandra Maischberger meets Leni Riefenstahl
Character:Self
Release Date:15/08/2002
From Stag Beetle to Swastika
Character:
Release Date:24/01/2002
Birth of a Nation
Character:Self
Release Date:06/08/1997
The Night of the Filmmakers
Character:Self
Release Date:12/02/1995
The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
Character:Herself
Release Date:11/09/1993
Time of Darkness and Silence
Character:Self
Release Date:03/09/1982
Games of the XXI Olympiad
Character:Self - Spectator
Release Date:21/04/1977
Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture
Character:Self - Interviewee
Release Date:07/10/1976
Memories of a Summer in Berlin
Character:herself
Release Date:22/08/1972
Lowlands
Character:Martha
Release Date:11/02/1954
Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations
Character:Nude Dancer - Prologue (uncredited)
Release Date:21/04/1938
S.O.S. Iceberg
Character:Ellen Lawrence
Release Date:22/09/1933
S.O.S. Iceberg
Character:Hella Lorenz
Release Date:30/08/1933
The Blue Light
Character:Junta
Release Date:24/03/1932
The White Ecstasy
Character:Leni
Release Date:10/12/1931
Storm Over Mont Blanc
Character:Hella Armstrong
Release Date:25/12/1930
The White Hell of Pitz Palu
Character:Maria Maioni
Release Date:10/10/1929
Das Schicksal derer von Habsburg
Character:Maria Vetsera
Release Date:16/11/1928
The Great Leap
Character:Gita
Release Date:20/12/1927
The Holy Mountain
Character:Diotima
Release Date:01/11/1926
Ways to Strength and Beauty
Character:
Release Date:16/03/1925
Television Appearances
Images
