leni riefenstahl is one of the most controversial artists of the 20th century

leni riefenstahl is one of the most controversial artists of the 20th century. a portrait of a dancer, actress, photographer and filmmaker........................

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leni riefenstahl biography

helene amalia bertha riefenstahl was born on august 22, 1902 in berlin.
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dancer
she started taking ballet lessons at the age of 16. as a young lady, she took
art lessions at the 'staatliche kunstgewerbeschule für zeichnen und malen' and she
studied at the russian ballet school in berlin.
soon she was choreographing her own performances and designing her own costumes.
by 1923-24, she was appearing in performances in major cities throughout europe.
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actress
in the same year, riefenstahl began appearing in films. she began her acting career in
the films of dr. arnold fanck, a geologist who made 'mountain movies' that glorified rural
german life. riefenstahl gave up dancing all together (she had a small accident, which
left her unable to dance anymore) to dedicate herself to acting.
from 1924 to 1933 she was a daredevil actress in many films by fanck
-'the holy mountain' (der heilige berg)
- 'the big bound' (der grosse sprung)...
her last film under fanck’s direction was
- 'sos iceberg' (s.o.s. eisberg).
many people see pre-fascist tendencies in these mountain films, riefenstahl, however,
never admitted this.
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filmmaker
leni riefenstahl then founded her own film production company,
'riefenstahl-studiofilm gmbh' in 1933, and throughout the period of the third reich,
riefenstahl's ideals were supported by adolf hitler. he requested that she make a film
on the national socialist party congress. riefenstahl agreed and the film was entitled
'the triumph of belief' (der sieg des glaubens) - this film has been lost.
in 1932, she became internationally famous as a woman producer, director and leading
actress with her first feature film 'the blue light' (das blaue licht), then came
'the triumph of will' (triumph des willens), her most controversial documentary about
the sixth nazi party rally of 1934 in nuremberg, which changed the course of her life.
when hitler gained control of the government and began to outlaw communist and other
opposition parties, many talented film makers left germany.
this made it easier for leni riefenstahl to rise to the top in the film making industry.
it was difficult for her, however, as a woman to have so much power and influence.
some crew members refused to work for her. hitler, however, continued to give her artistic
freedom and financial support.
in 1935 she was awarded the german national film prize for 'triumph of will'.
one of her most prized films was about the berlin olympics held in 1936.
never before had a filmmaker attempted to shoot athletic events the way she had.
she used balloons, catapults and rubber rafts toget the angles she
needed. riefenstahl even dug a hole on the side of the field so that the pole
vaulters could be seen in the air. at the venice film festival, it won
'the coppa mussolini', first prize. the runner-up was ' snow white' by walt disney.
when she went to hollywood to try to promote her film, she was snubbed.
apparently, she couldn’t understand why, which might show her political naivety.
another remarkable film was 'tiefland' in 1940s, released in 1954.

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after the war, the film industry was in shambles due to allied air raids.
she was blacklisted by the allied occupation forces who decided who was
allowed to work in the film industry in germany. from 1945-48 she was
accused having been a member of the national socialist party and was jailed
for three years in different prisons and for three months in an insane asylum.
riefenstahl always seemed unconcerned and unaware of the propagandist
effects of her films.
she insisted that her involvement with the nazi party was never political.
she was always more concerned with her films than with politics.
in 1949 she was finally "denazified" by the court in frieburg on the 16th of
december..
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movies and photobooks
of the now-extinct nuba tribes of africa
1962 departure for kordofan in sudan, where she discovered “her” nuba.
1963-69 except for brief periods here and there, she lived with the nuba
1973 the first of a series of photo-journals is published:
'the last of the nuba' (die nuba. menschen wie von einem anderen stern)
1976 published 'the people of kau' (die nuba von kau)
1980 the first exhibit of her photographs at the seibu museum of art.
1982 published 'vanishing africa' (mein afrika)
1985 exhibited photos pf the nuba in an exhibition entitled 'nudes'
(das aktfoto) at the stadtmuseum of munich.
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second olympics
1972 36 years after making 'olympia', she did a photo story for the
sunday times magazine on the olympics in munich entitled leni riefenstahl's
second olympics.
1994 book of 1938 'olympia' photographs is published in america.
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underwater photgraphy
she took up deep-sea diving at the age of 71, beginning a new career as an
underwater photographer of exotic aquatic life.
1978 'coral gardens' (korallengärten)
1982 published 'underwater miracle' (wunder unter wasser)
1996 diving trips off the coasts of coco island, costa rica and cuba.
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exhibitions
1959 film retrospective at the biennale di venezia. all of her films are shown in their
entirety.
1991 in japan, at the bunk mura complex, an exhibition called ‘leni reifenstahl -life’
is held. the exhibition is curated and organized by iiko ishioka, francis ford coppola’s
assistant director and costumist.
1993 the film'the wonderful, horrible life of leni riefenstahl' is presented at the museum
of modern art, new york.
1995 film retrospective in leipzig, exhibitions in kuopio, in finland e in milan .
1997 exhibition at the palazzo delle esposizioni in rome.
1999 retrospective on leni riefenstahl at the 'filmmuseum' in potsdam, germany.
and during the summer 2000, there was a retrospective at the carla sozzani gallery in milan.
http://www.galleriacarlasozzani.org
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autobiographies
1987 'a memoir', her contraversial autobiography, was published in german.
(1995 it was translated and published in many languages)
2000 her photographic autobiography has just come out, 'leni riefenstahl five lives',
published by taschen in german, english and french
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monographs
1976 'leni riefenstahl. the fallen film goddess' by glenn b. infield,
'a portrait of leni riefenstahl' by andrey salkeld,
'films of leni riefenstahl' by david b. hinton,
2000 a monograph (only in german) ‘leni riefenstahl :
die verführung des talents' by rainer rother, henschel verlag
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film documentary on leni riefenstahl:
1993 'the power of images' (die macht der bilder): a revealing story that gives a rare
glimpse of riefenstahl at work and shows her intense, inexhaustible style of filmmaking.
the english title is 'the wonderful, horrible life of leni riefenstahl', directed by ray müller.
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the shadows of marathon runners
'olympia',1938
cortesy taschen
© leni riefenstahl

on the beam, 1936
courtesy galleria carla sozzani
© leni riefenstahl

over the horse, 1936
cortesy galleria carla sozzani
© leni riefenstahl