RIEFENSTAHL

Synopsis

A captivating insight into the private estate of Leni Riefenstahl, who became world-famous with her Nazi propaganda film TRIUMPH OF THE WILL but kept denying any closer ties to the regime.

Leni Riefenstahl is considered one of the most controversial women of the 20th century as an artist and a Nazi propagandist. Her films TRIUMPH OF THE WILL and OLYMPIA stand for perfectly staged body worship and the celebration of the superior and victorious. At the same time, these images project contempt for the imperfect and weak. Riefenstahl’s aesthetics are more present than ever today - but is that also true for their implied message? The film examines this question using documents from Riefenstahl's estate, including private films, photos, recordings and letters. It uncovers fragments of her biography and places them in an extended historical context. How could Riefenstahl become the Reich's preeminent filmmaker and keep denying any closer ties to Hitler and Goebbels? During her long life after the fall of Nazism, she remained unapologetic, managing to control and shape her legacy. In personal documents, she mourns her "murdered ideals". Riefenstahl represents many postwar Germans who, in letters and recorded telephone calls from her estate, dream of an organizing hand that will finally clean up the "shit-hole state". Then, her work would also experience a renaissance, in a generation or two this time could come - what if they are right?

Cast & Crew

Director

Andres Veiel
Director of photography

Toby Cornish
Narrator

Andrew Bird
Editor (Cut)

Stephan Krumbiegel, Olaf Voigtländer, Alfredo Castro
Sound

Matthias Lempert
Original Score

Freya Arde

Festivals/awards

2024
81 Biennale, Venice
20 ZFF – Zurich Film Festival
FFCGN Filmfestival Cologne
37 IDFA
41 Kassel Dokfest
Filmkunstmesse Leipzig
Tallinn Black Nights FF

Director's comment

Now as then Riefenstahl’s visual worlds are about triumph. Triumph over doubt, ambivalence, supposed weakness and imperfection. Thus, looking at the world today, a film about Riefenstahl became an urgent necessity for me. Riefenstahl’s extensive legacy, reinterpreted in the light of her private estate, offered the opportunity for a new take on the timeless attraction of imperial greatness and its need for the glorification of muscular, perfect and victorious bodies, an urge that is on the rise again today.

World Sales

Beta Cinema GmbH

Gruenwalder Weg 28d
82041 München Phone +49 89 673469828 Fax +49 89 673469888 http://www.betacinema.com

Production Company

Vincent Productions GmbH

Kastanienallee 40
10119 Berlin Phone +49 30 2787760 https://vincent-productions.com

Cast & Crew

Andres Veiel
Toby Cornish
Andrew Bird
Stephan Krumbiegel, Olaf Voigtländer, Alfredo Castro
Matthias Lempert
Freya Arde

Film Info

World Sales

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RIEFENSTAHL

Synopsis

Cast & Crew

Festivals/awards

Director's comment

World Sales

Production Company

Cast & Crew

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Film Info

World Sales

Production Company

links / references

Categories

RIEFENSTAHL

Synopsis

Cast & Crew

Festivals/awards

Director's comment

World Sales

Production Company

Cast & Crew

Categories

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