She was Hitler’s favourite propagandist, directing films that glorified of the Third Reich and are considered landmarks of early cinema for their innovations and technical mastery. But once the Nazis were defeated, Leni Riefenstahl sought to distanced herself from the regime she had served. Now countless documents have revelared that Leni Riefenstahl was not only an anti-Semitic Nazi follower – but was herself a perpetrator.
Leni Riefenstahl’s visionary film “Triumph of the Will“, the feature length glorification of Hitler‘s Nuremberg party ralley in 1934, and her award-winning documentary about the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin have shaped the world’s collective memory of the Nazi regime. Still today these films stand out as important documents in the history of directing skills. Just as significantly, even today, is the seemingly indestructible personal legend which she created for herself after 1945. In fact she was a devoted friend and confidante of Adolf Hitler, who personally financed some of her work.
German filmmaker and author Nina Gladitz has spent decades working to destroy this myth, that has been allowed to persist – not only by gullibility but furthermore by careless ignorance. In this film, we reveal how Riefenstahl true role goes beyond complicity with the horrors of Nazism.