Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (German pronunciation: [ˈriːfənʃtaːl]; 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), a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party. Riefenstahl's prominence in the Third Reich along with her personal friendships with...
more
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (German pronunciation: [ˈriːfənʃtaːl]; 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), a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party. Riefenstahl's prominence in the Third Reich along with her personal friendships with Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels thwarted her film career following Germany's defeat in World War II, after which she was arrested but never convicted of any crimes.
Triumph of the Will gave Riefenstahl instant and lasting international fame. Although she made only eight films, just two of which received significant coverage outside of Germany, Riefenstahl was widely known throughout the rest of her life. The propaganda value of her films made during the 1930s repels most modern commentators but many film histories cite the aesthetics as...
less
