Person
Leni Riefenstahl
Berlin, Germany
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 fil…
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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
Movies and shows, newest first
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2025
FASCISM(s): A Film in Six Parts
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2024
Riefenstahl
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2024
City of Toys
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2023
Longing For Innocence
Movie Director
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2020
Leni Riefenstahl - The End of a Myth
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2019
Churchill and the Movie Mogul
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2018
Eiskalte Leidenschaft - Leni Riefenstahl und Arnold Fanck zwischen Hitler und Hollywood
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2017
Buffa racconta Jesse Owens
TV show
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2017
Hitler's Hollywood
Movie Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
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2016
The Run
Movie
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2016
Les Champions d'Hitler
Movie Self
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2015
LENI
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2009
In the Service of the Regime. Leni Riefenstahl
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2008
Faszination Bergfilm - Himmelhoch und Abgrundtief
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2005
Speer und er: Nachspiel - Die Täuschung
Movie Herself
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2005
The Goebbels Experiment
Movie Self (archival footage)
More credits
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2003
Leni Riefenstahl: Her Dream of Africa
Movie Self
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2002
Underwater Impressions
Movie
- 2002
- 2002
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1997
Birth of a Nation
Movie Self
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1995
The Night of the Filmmakers
Movie Self
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1993
The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
Movie Herself
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1982
Time of Darkness and Silence
Movie Self
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1978
Biographies
TV show Self
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1977
Games of the XXI Olympiad
Movie Self - Spectator
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1976
Das ist Ihr Leben
TV show Self
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1976
Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture
Movie Self - Interviewee
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1973
Je später der Abend
TV show Self
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1972
Memories of a Summer in Berlin
Movie herself
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1965
aspekte
TV show Self
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1954
Lowlands
Movie Martha
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1941
Hoch der Lambeth Valk
Movie Idea
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1938
Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty
Movie Director
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1938
Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations
Movie Nude Dancer - Prologue (uncredited)
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1935
Day of Freedom
Movie Editor
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1935
Triumph of the Will
Movie Director
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1933
The Victory of Faith
Movie Director
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1933
S.O.S. Iceberg
Movie Ellen Lawrence
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1933
S.O.S. Iceberg
Movie Hella Lorenz
