From the origins of cinema there were women who, like Leni Riefenstahl did later on, also explored and innovated as directors in media despite numerous obstacles. Some silent film pioneers are Alice Guy, Lois Weber, or the German Lotte Reiniger, who created animated films, and Germaine Dulac, foremother of Surrealism in cinema. In Spain, Helena Cortesina and Elena Jordi, of whom no films have survived, also stand out.
With the advent of sound film in the interwar period, when Hollywood became the Mecca of cinema, few female directors were known, such as Dorothy Arzner, the Mexican Matilde Landeta, Ida Lupino or Wendy Toye. In Poland, Wanda Jakubowska stands out. She was a prisoner in Auschwitz who depicted life in a concentration camp in her 1948 film, The Last Stage.
During the 1960s and 1970s, there is an increase of women producers: Agnes Vardà, Lina Wertmüller, Pilar Miró, Randa Haines or Kathryn Bigelow.
They all paved the way for directors like Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, Lucrecia Martel, Patty Jenkins, Icíar Bollaín and Greta Gerwig.
Outside the field of films, the interwar period was a period of cultural unrest in which, in addition to filmmakers such as Lois Weber or avant-garde artists such as Hanna Hoch, scientists such as Lise Meitner, Marietta Blau or Hilda Geiringer stood out.
In the context of inter-war German National Socialism, some of Leni Riefenstahl's contemporaries from the Nazi milieu must be mentioned, although, like Riefenstahl herself, they did not fit the Nazi "ideal woman" mould, for example, Hanna Reitsch who was a military test pilot with 40 world flying records.
Helene Bertha Amelie Riefenstahl
(Leni Riefenstahl)
Berlin 22-08-1902 ‖ Pöcking 08-09-2003
Period of activity: From 1923 until 2002
Geographical classification: Europe > Germany
Socio-cultural movements
Late modern period / Contemporary period > Socio-political movements > Authoritarianism > National Socialism
Late modern period / Contemporary period > Movements in cinema > European cinema
Historical milestones > World War I
Historical milestones > Interwar period
Historical milestones > World War II
Historical milestones > Aftermath of World War II
Groups by dedication
Writers
Plastic, visual and performing artists > Photographers
Plastic, visual and performing artists > Cinema directors / Producers
Plastic, visual and performing artists > Actresses
Plastic, visual and performing artists > Dancers
Context of feminine creation
Review
Film-maker linked to the German Nazi regime in the 1930s, a period in which she made a series of documentaries of political material for the German National Socialism, which she later dissociated herself from, highlighting her artistic work and becoming a reference point in the film world for her innovative techniques.
Activities
Justifications
Biography
Leni Riefenstahl was one of the best cinematographers in the 20th century. Her connection to the Nazi regime made her a controversial character, both admired and hated. [...]
Helene Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl was born on August 22nd, 1902, in Berlin. She was the daughter of a German industrialist.
From a very young age, she confronted her father so that he would let her study dance. With the support of her mother, Leni received lessons from the outstanding Russian ballerina Eugenie Eduardova. Despite her tenacity and talent, some injuries prevented her from dancing.
The Holy Mountain was her first film as an actress. Disillusioned with her career as a dancer, Leni met Arnold Fanck, a film director, [...] Arnold was captivated by Leni's beauty and determination and hired her.
[...] During the filming, the young actress not only played her role with great professionalism, but also learned the ins and outs of film directing from Frank.
After the success of The Holy Mountain, Leni participated in other films like Fate of the House of Habsburg, where she played Maria Vetsera. She soon realised the need to channel her film-making career and decided to create her own studio in 1931.
The Blue Light, a legend of the Dolomites, was her first film as a director, in which she also starred. It was a huge success. At the Venice Biennale in 1932 she won the silver medal and the film was shown for over a year in several European capitals.
[…] Leni saw Adolf Hitler and all his propaganda paraphernalia for the first time at a public event in the Berlin Sports Palace. Impressed by Hitler's personality, she did not hesitate to send him a congratulation letter which, to her surprise, he answered.
The Führer and Leni met soon after and the artist began to frequent the political and party circles of the German National Socialist elite.
Adolf Hitler became interested in Leni's artistic work and, following his collaborator's advise, he decided to make her director of several documentaries of the Nazi party. Leni accepted. From 1933 to 1935 she filmed what is known as the Nuremberg rallies trilogy, a series of documentaries on National-Socialism: The Victory of Faith, Triumph of the Will and Day of Freedom.
But her masterpiece was still to come. The organising committee for the 11th Summer Olympics asked her to make a film about the games [...]
Olympia premiered on April 12, 1938, on the Führer's birthday. The film was released in two parts: Festival of Nations and Festival of Beauty. It was a huge success and soon became a referent in the film-making world. She used special effects and advances in post-production that were very innovative at the time.
After the outbreak of World War II, the Third Reich started a mass production of propaganda films to extol the regime and entertainment films to keep people's morale up. After she refused to make a film about the Siegfried Line, a German defensive space in response to the French Maginot Line, Leni disappeared from the German film-making world. She began to shoot a film she had long wanted to make, Lowlands, focusing on the Alhambra in Granada, moving away from the production of documentaries on National Socialism.
After the war, Leni Riefenstahl was accused of collaborating with the Nazi regime; she was imprisoned, interrogated and, although she was then released, her possessions were confiscated. Not only that, her credibility was called into question. She had to fight against accusations that she was a Nazi sympathiser and had even been a lover of Hitler or Goebbels, with whom they had a very hostile relationship.
Over time, her detractors diminished and in the last years of her life there were many retrospectives and tributes to her short but brilliant film career. Olympia was her last film as a director. After the post-war period, she started a brilliant career as a photographer in the 1950s. Her feature on the indigenous people at Nuba was a huge international success.
At the age of 80, she wrote her extensive memoirs, in which she captured a long life full of emotions and disappointments. Her life became a world's best seller.
But Leni was to live to the age of 101. She still had to hear opinions against her, recalling her controversial role in Nazi propaganda. Leni claimed all her life that she had only made her living as an artist, and that she would have filmed the ins and outs of the communist party had she been asked. However, a shadow of doubt will always linger over this great woman who was once fascinated by Hitler's personality.
Our own translation from: Sandra Ferrer Valero. Mujeres en la Historia, retrieved on 07/03/2022,
https://www.mujeresenlahistoria.com/2011/03/la-directora-de-hitler-leni-riefenstahl.html
Works
Riefenstahl, Leni (1991) Memorias. Barcelona: Lumen.
The Triumph of Will (1935)
Olympia (1938)
Bibliography
Gubern, Roman (1995). Historia del Cine. Barcelona: Lumen.
Del Rey, Miguel and Canales, Carlos (2014). Valquirias. Mujeres del Tercer Reich. Madrid: Edaf.
Sigmund, Anna Maria (2000). Las mujeres de los nazis. Barcelona: Plaza & Janés.
Various Authors (1982). Historia universal del cine. Barcelona: Planeta.
Various Authors (1994). Historia del cine. Madrid: País Aguilar.
RTVE. El triunfo de la voluntad de Leni Riefenstahl, en el programa “La Aventura del Saber", retrieved on 07/03/2022, https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/la-aventura-del-saber/aventura-del-saber-triunfo-voluntad/5467890/
Didactic approach
We can introduce her in history in 4th of ESO, to study the characteristics of the Nazi regime. She can also be studied in history of the contemporary world in 1st of Bachillerato.