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Leni Riefenstahl

Highest Rated: 100% Riefenstahl (2024)

Lowest Rated: 70% The Blue Light (1932)

Birthday: Aug 22, 1902

Birthplace: Berlin, Germany

An undeniably brilliant filmmaker who broke new ground with pioneering techniques, Leni Riefenstahl nonetheless lived in infamy for her friendship with and adulation of Adolf Hitler during the reign of Nazi Germany. In fact, her extraordinary talent proved to be her downfall; she used her genius to create the breathtaking, but frightening "Triumph of the Will" (1935), a chronicle of Hitler's famed Nuremberg rally that portrayed the Fuehrer as a god come to Earth to save the German people. Though the film was hailed as masterpiece, Riefenstahl was unable to live down her reputation for being a Nazi sympathizer - a label that dogged her for the rest of her life. Meanwhile, she kept Hitler in the background for her other documentary masterpiece, "Olympia" (1938), which chronicled the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. While she depicted the German athletes as somewhat godlike, keeping to Hitler's ideal of Aryan superiority, Riefenstahl did focus much of her attention on American hero, Jesse Owens, an African-American who bested Germany's top athletes to take home four gold medals. After the war, Riefenstahl spent time under arrest and faced several inquiries, but was ultimately allowed her freedom. But that freedom was limited, as her reputation prevented her from making another film. Riefenstahl turned to photography instead and found personal reconciliation through taking pictures of the Nuba tribe in Africa. Though she came to terms with her past on a personal level, Riefenstahl lived her public life in association with the Nazi party until the end.

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Highest rated movies

100% Riefenstahl
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96% 87% The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
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89% 86% Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations
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84% 75% Triumph of the Will
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80% 89% Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty
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70% 59% The Blue Light
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Day of Freedom
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54% Tag der Freiheit - Unsere Wehrmacht (Day of Freedom)
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White Ecstasy
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S.O.S. Eisberg
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
100% No Score Yet Riefenstahl Self - 2024
96% 87% The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl Self - 1993
No Score Yet 71% Lowlands Martha (Character),
Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer,
Cinematographer,
Film Editing
- 1954
80% 89% Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty Director,
Writer,
Producer
- 1938
89% 86% Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations Director,
Writer
- 1938
84% 75% Triumph of the Will Director,
Writer,
Producer
- 1935
No Score Yet No Score Yet Day of Freedom Director,
Writer,
Producer,
Film Editing
- 1935
No Score Yet 54% Tag der Freiheit - Unsere Wehrmacht (Day of Freedom) Director - 1935
No Score Yet No Score Yet S.O.S. Eisberg Hella sine Frau (Character) - 1933
70% 59% The Blue Light Junta (Character),
Director,
Producer
- 1932
No Score Yet No Score Yet White Ecstasy Leni (Character) - 1931
No Score Yet 72% The White Hell of Pitz Palu (Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü) Unknown (Character) - 1929
No Score Yet No Score Yet White Hell of Pitz Palu Maria Maioni (Character) - 1929
No Score Yet 70% The Holy Mountain Diotima (Character) - 1926