Leni Riefenstahl
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.
Olympia: Part One – Festival of the Nations
as Nude Dancer - Prologue (uncredited)Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni...
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The Holy Mountain
as DiotimaProfessional dancer Diotima finds herself the apex of a love triangle when she is pursued by two...
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Hitler's Hollywood
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)Film journalist and critic Rüdiger Suchsland examines German cinema from 1933, when the Nazis...
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Riefenstahl
as Self (archive footage)Explores Leni Riefenstahl's artistic legacy and her complex ties to the Nazi regime, juxtaposing...
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The Blue Light
as JuntaA young woman, Junta, lives apart from her village and, for her solitude and strangeness, is...
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The White Hell of Pitz Palu
as Maria MaioniDr. Johannes Krafft climbs a 12,000-foot mountain over and over again to search for his wife,...
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The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
as HerselfThis documentary recounts the life and work of one of most famous, and yet reviled, German film...
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Ways to Strength and Beauty
as uncreditedThe perfect body as an object of cult worship. Based on the mass sports and body worship...
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Games of the XXI Olympiad
as Self - SpectatorEdited from almost 100 km of film footage shot during the Games, this feature documentary is a...
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Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture
as Self - IntervieweeThe film tells the cultural story of Berlin during the Weimar Republic through interviews with a...
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Leni Riefenstahl - The End of a Myth
as Self (archive footage)Countless people around the world know the pictures from Leni Riefenstahl's films, even if they...
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Lowlands
as MarthaSet in the early part of 20th century Europe. There lived a dancer who becomes the romantic bone...
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Birth of a Nation
as SelfFilmmaker Jonas Mekas films 160 underground film people over four decades.
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Storm Over Mont Blanc
as Hella ArmstrongIn a lonely outpost atop the treacherous Mont Blanc, an intrepid scientist lives with minimal...
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S.O.S. Iceberg
as Hella LorenzAn expedition goes in search of a party lost in the Arctic the year before. The English...
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White Ecstasy
as LeniLeni, a daring young girl, is visiting for the second time a ski-resort. The local ski-teachers...
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S.O.S. Iceberg
as Ellen LawrenceAn expedition goes in search of a party lost in the Arctic the year before. This is the English...
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The Night of the Filmmakers
as SelfA meditation on the first 100 years of German cinema, featuring an assembly of German filmmakers.
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Underwater Impressions
as uncreditedRiefenstahl explores the undersea world of coral reefs in various oceans around the world....
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Leni Riefenstahl: Her Dream of Africa
as uncreditedAt the age of 97 Riefenstahl returns to Sudan for one final farewell to the Nuba that she lived...
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The Great Leap
as GitaA young Italian girl living in the Dolomites falls in love with a member of a tourist party...
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Time of Darkness and Silence
as SelfAn investigation of Leni Riefenstahl’s infamous film production of “Tiefland” during the...
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