Leni Riefenstahl
Born: 1902-08-22 in Berlin, Germany
Died: 2003-09-08
Known For: Directing
Biography
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.
Filmography
2025
- FASCISM(s): A Film in Six Parts as Self (archive footage)
2024
- Riefenstahl as Self (archive footage)
- City of Toys as Self (archive footage)
2023
- Longing For Innocence ... (Director)
2020
- Leni Riefenstahl - The End of a Myth as Self (archive footage)
2018
- Eiskalte Leidenschaft - Leni Riefenstahl und Arnold Fanck zwischen Hitler und Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
2017
- Hitler's Hollywood as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
2016
- Les Champions d'Hitler as Self
2015
- LENI as Self (archive footage)
2009
- In the Service of the Regime. Leni Riefenstahl as Self (archive footage)
2008
- Faszination Bergfilm - Himmelhoch und Abgrundtief as Self (archive footage)
2005
- The Goebbels Experiment as Self (archival footage)
- Speer und er: Nachspiel - Die Täuschung as Herself
2003
2002
1997
- Birth of a Nation as Self
1995
- The Night of the Filmmakers as Self
1993
1982
- Time of Darkness and Silence as Self
1978
- Biographies as Self
1977
- Games of the XXI Olympiad as Self - Spectator
1976
- Das ist Ihr Leben as Self
- Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture as Self - Interviewee
1973
- Je später der Abend as Self
1972
- Memories of a Summer in Berlin as herself
1965
- aspekte as Self
1954
- Lowlands as Martha
1941
- Hoch der Lambeth Valk ... (Idea)
1938
- Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty ... (Director)
- Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations as Nude Dancer - Prologue (uncredited)
1935
- Triumph of the Will ... (Director)
- Day of Freedom ... (Producer)
1933
- The Victory of Faith ... (Director)
- S.O.S. Iceberg as Ellen Lawrence
- S.O.S. Iceberg as Hella Lorenz
1932
- The Blue Light as Junta
1931
- The White Ecstasy as Leni
1930
- Storm Over Mont Blanc as Hella Armstrong
1929
- The White Hell of Pitz Palu as Maria Maioni
1928
- Das Schicksal derer von Habsburg as Maria Vetsera
1927
- The Great Leap as Gita
1926
- The Holy Mountain as Diotima