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

• 2023Longing For Innocence — Director
• Buffa racconta Jesse Owens
• 2016The Run
• 2002From Stag Beetle to Swastika
• 2002Underwater Impressions — Director, Writer
• 1954Lowlands — Martha, Editor, Director, Producer, Screenplay
• 1941Hoch der Lambeth Valk — Idea
• 1938Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations — Self (uncredited), Director, Producer, Editor, Writer
• 1938Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty — Director, Producer, Editor, Writer
• 1935Day of Freedom — Editor, Producer, Director
• 1935Triumph of the Will — Director, Producer, Screenplay, Editor
• 1933S.O.S. Iceberg — Hella Lorenz
• 1933S.O.S. Iceberg — Ellen Lawrence
• 1933The Victory of Faith — Director, Editor, Writer
• 1932The Blue Light — Junta, Director, Editor, Producer, Story
• 1931The White Ecstasy — Leni
• 1930Storm Over Mont Blanc — Hella Armstrong
• 1929The White Hell of Pitz Palu — Maria Maioni
• 1928Das Schicksal derer von Habsburg — Maria Vetsera
• 1927The Great Leap — Gita
• 1926The Holy Mountain — Diotima, Director
• 1925Ways to Strength and Beauty

Appearances as themselves (26)

• 2025FASCISM(s): A Film in Six Parts — Self (archive footage)
• 2024City of Toys — Self (archive footage)
• 2024Riefenstahl — Self (archive footage)
• 2020Leni Riefenstahl - The End of a Myth — Self (archive footage)
• 2019Churchill and the Movie Mogul — Self (archive footage)
• 2018Ice Cold Passion - Leni Riefenstahl and Arnold Fanck between Hitler and Hollywood — Self (archive footage)
• 2017Hitler's Hollywood — Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
• 2016Les Champions d'Hitler — Self
• 2015LENI — Self (archive footage)
• 2009In the Service of the Regime. Leni Riefenstahl — Self (archive footage)
• 2008Faszination Bergfilm - Himmelhoch und Abgrundtief — Self (archive footage)
• 2005Speer und er: Nachspiel - Die Täuschung — Herself
• 2005The Goebbels Experiment — Self (archive footage)
• 2003Leni Riefenstahl: Her Dream of Africa — Self
• 2002The Immoderation of Me - Sandra Maischberger meets Leni Riefenstahl — Self
• 1997Birth of a Nation — Self
• 1995The Night of the Filmmakers — Self
• 1993The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl — Herself
• 1982Time of Darkness and Silence — Self
• Biographies — Self
• 1977Games of the XXI Olympiad — Self - Spectator
• Das ist Ihr Leben — Self
• 1976Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture — Self - Interviewee
• Je später der Abend — Self
• 1972Memories of a Summer in Berlin — herself
• aspekte — Self