Author(s): Rainer Rother

Biography & Memoir

Leni Riefenstahl achieved fame as a dancer, actress, photographer and director but her entire career is coloured by her association with the Nazi party. Appointed by Hitler, she directed the Nazi propaganda film "Triumph des Willens" along with her best known work "Olympia", a documentary of the 1936 Munich Olympics. By 1939 Riefenstahl was arguably the most famous woman film director in the world, yet after the war she was never again accepted as a filmmaker. Rainer Rother's book provides detailed coverage from original documentation, of those aspects of Riefenstahl's career she herself has been keen to sanitize. It is an account of the fascinating life and work of Germany's most controversial photographer and filmmaker. Contents: Part I Talent: Beginnings; The Author Appears. Part II The Genius of National Socialist Film ; A New Kind of Film "Triumph of Faith"; The Author of National Socialist Film; The Best Sports Film of All Time. Part III Away from the Power: Partial Retreat; "Tiefland"; The Return of the Expelled; Projects; A Question of Justice and Tact; Revival without Vindication; Summary; A Change-over of Characters.