
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.
9 directing credits · 39 acting credits
Directing · 9

Triumph of the Will
1935

Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations
1938

Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty
1938

The Victory of Faith
1933

The Blue Light
1932

Lowlands
1954

Day of Freedom
1935

Longing For Innocence
2023

Underwater Impressions
2002
Acting · 39
aspekte
1965
Je später der Abend
1973

Riefenstahl
2024
Das ist Ihr Leben
1976

Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations
1938

The Holy Mountain
1926

Hitler's Hollywood
2017
Biographies
1978

The White Hell of Pitz Palu
1929

S.O.S. Iceberg
1933

Ways to Strength and Beauty
1925

Faszination Bergfilm - Himmelhoch und Abgrundtief
2008

The Blue Light
1932

Lowlands
1954

Leni Riefenstahl - The End of a Myth
2020

The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
1993

Birth of a Nation
1997

Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture
1976

Les Champions d'Hitler
2016

S.O.S. Iceberg
1933
LENI
2015

The Goebbels Experiment
2005

Games of the XXI Olympiad
1977

FASCISM(s): A Film in Six Parts
2025
Memories of a Summer in Berlin
1972

The Great Leap
1927

Storm Over Mont Blanc
1930

The White Ecstasy
1931

City of Toys
2024

The Night of the Filmmakers
1995
Speer und er: Nachspiel - Die Täuschung
2005
The Immoderation of Me - Sandra Maischberger meets Leni Riefenstahl
2002
Eiskalte Leidenschaft - Leni Riefenstahl und Arnold Fanck zwischen Hitler und Hollywood
2018

From Stag Beetle to Swastika
2002

Underwater Impressions
2002

Leni Riefenstahl: Her Dream of Africa
2003

Time of Darkness and Silence
1982

Das Schicksal derer von Habsburg
1928

In the Service of the Regime. Leni Riefenstahl
2009