Leni Riefenstahl

Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (August 22, 1902 – September 8, 2003) was an accomplished but controversial German film maker. She was also a dancer and actress, but it was her pioneering film production and photographic techniques which brought her lasting fame. Today, she is mainly remembered for her support of the Third Reich and in particular her propaganda films such as the Nuremberg trilogy, of which Triumph of the Will is the best known, and Olympia in promotion of the Berlin Olympics. One especially beautiful film sequence involves divers. Their dives are captured in skillful film that makes the men appear to be flying before plunging towards the water. Interestingly, though Olympia was supposed to document the achievements of the “master race” at the games dubbed “Hitler’s Olympics”, in one sequence Riefenstahl captured the look on Hitler’s face when American sprinter Jesse Owens, an African-American, won a gold medal, and her film did highlight the accomplishments of other non-"Aryans" as well.

Although Riefenstahl produced significant work long after Hitler’s fall, her reputation had been irreparably damaged and she never again met with the same type of success.

Today, despite understandable revulsion at the thought of Riefenstahl’s friendship with Hitler and her support of Nazi Germany, film historians agree that she was an outstanding innovator.

Riefenstahl died at the age of 101.