Leni Riefenstahl Controversy

The controversy surrounding Leni Riefenstahl’s films has been an ongoing historical debate since the outbreak of World War II. Labelled as ‘purely and simply Nazi propaganda’ Riefenstahl’s work was the cornerstone of Nazi Germany’s media regime. Riefenstahl argues however that her intent was simply to produce art. Whilst the films’ value as promoting the Nazi regime is undeniable it can be questioned whether or not they are entirely propaganda or if they hold more, artistic value.
Born in Berlin August 1902 to Alfred and Bertha Riefenstahl, Leni was raised in a comfortable middleclass family. Her father was a controlling and authoritarian figure and tried to discourage her growing passion for dancing. When he discovered she had secretly been attending classes at the Grimm-Reiter school for dance he threatened to divorce her mother and made arrangements for Leni to attend a boarding school in the Heinz Mountains. Eventually he accepted his daughter’s wishes and arranged lessons with a Russian Ballet teacher as well as at the Jutta Klant School for expressive dance.
It pioneered many techniques and equipment used in sporting cinema and thus also has great artistic value rather than being purely propaganda. Riefenstahl was the first to shoot divers and swimmers from under the water, using special cameras and slow-motion footage to create a more exciting film. She also created new techniques such as filming from pits so as to view pole-vaulters against the sky, and putting cameras on tracks to keep up with the pace of the runners. Riefenstahl also argues that her insistence to include black athletes, such as Jesse Owens, against the will of both Hitler and Goebbels outlines her desire not for propaganda but to produce a work of art. The inclusion of foreign victors also highlights the film’s purpose as an artistic representation of a world-wide