The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl

Sep 11, 1993

3h 8m

★ 7.1

Overview

This documentary recounts the life and work of one of most famous, and yet reviled, German film directors in history, Leni Riefenstahl. The film recounts the rise of her career from a dancer, to a movie actor to the most important film director in Nazi Germany who directed such famous propaganda films as Triumph of the Will and Olympiad. The film also explores her later activities after Nazi Germany's defeat in 1945 and her disgrace for being so associated with it which includes her amazingly active life over the age of 90.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

ARTE

Nomad Films

Omega Film GmbH

Without Walls

ZDF

Channel 4 Television

The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl Trailers

Cast

Herself

Leni Riefenstahl

Himself

Walter Frentz

Himself

Horst Kettner

Himself

Ray Müller

Himself

Luis Trenker

Himself

Guzzi Lantschner

Hungary was the site of serial murders on ethnic basis. Over the course of one year, the murderers killed and seriously injured Roma children and adults. The state charged 4 men with committing the crime with racial motivation. This historical trial started March, 2011, and ended August, 2013 in Budapest. The 167 days of hearings was only documented continuously by our crew. We had exclusive permission to use multiple cameras in the court-room. The film is a classical chamber-drama, taking place in a small, claustrophobic court room, in the middle of Europe. What will be the outcome of the marathon, 3 year-long trial?

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0.0

Albania

Jan 1, 1945

Made by the highly influential Russian cameraman Roman Karmen, this documentary vividly features Albanian life immediately after the communists came to power in 1944. The film is especially memorable since it’s missing much of the heavy socialist realism that marked Albanian doc making. Shortly after he completed the film, Karmen set off for Berlin to shoot the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

7.6

American Movie

Nov 5, 1999

American Movie documents the story of filmmaker Mark Borchardt, his mission, and his dream. Spanning over two years of intense struggle with his film, his family, financial decline, and spiritual crisis, American Movie is a portrayal of ambition, obsession, excess, and one man's quest for the American Dream.

6.3

Victory in the West

May 7, 1941

A Nazi propaganda film about the lead up to World War II and Germany's success on the Western Front. Utilizes newsreel footage of battles and fell into disfavour with propaganda minister Goebbels because of it's lack of emphasis on Adolf Hitler.

6.4

Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary

Mar 22, 2002

Documentarians Andre Heller and Othmar Schmiderer turn their camera on 81-year-old Traudl Junge, who served as Adolf Hitler's secretary from 1942 to 1945, and allow her to speak about her experiences. Junge sheds light on life in the Third Reich and the days leading up to Hitler's death in the famed bunker, where Junge recorded Hitler's last will and testament. Her gripping account is nothing short of mesmerizing.

0.0

Tous Les Jours

Nov 16, 2019

In rocky Newfoundland, renowned French artist Jean Claude Roy gathers his paints and sets off to face the day. Whether it be freezing snow, violent wind, or pouring rain, he commits vibrant colors to canvas and conquers the day by weaving crooked beauty out of difficulties.

0.0

Gauguin: A Dangerous Life

Dec 1, 2019

Gauguin’s vivid artworks sell for millions. He was an inspired and committed multi-media artist who worked with the Impressionists and had a tempestuous relationship with Vincent van Gogh. But he was also a competitive and rapacious man who left his wife to bring up five children and used his colonial privilege to travel to Polynesia, where in his 40s he took ‘wives’ between 13 and 15 years old, creating images of them and their world that promoted a fantasy paradise of an unspoilt Eden in the Pacific. Later, he challenged the colonial authorities and the Catholic Church in defence of the indigenous people, dying in the Marquesas Islands in 1903, sick, impoverished and alone.

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0.0

Der er et yndigt Land

Mar 13, 1939

No overview available.

6.8

The Day Hitler Died

Dec 18, 2015

The story of Hitler’s final hours told by people who were there. This special features exclusive forgotten interviews, believed lost for 65 years, with members of Hitler’s inner circle who were trapped with him in his bunker as the Russians fought to take Berlin. These unique interviews from figures such as the leader of the Hitler Youth Artur Axmann and Hitler’s secretary Traudl Junge, have never before been seen outside Germany. Using rarely seen archive footage and dramatic reconstruction, this special tells the story of Adolf Hitler’s final days in his Berlin bunker.

0.0

A castle with red walls

Nov 11, 2019

This movie is about an Iranian filmmaker called Davood Roostayi, whose all movies ( more than 100 movies ) have been banned both before and after the Islamic revolution of Iran and none of his movies have been screened.

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0.0

18. April

Mar 11, 1947

No overview available.

7.4

Jim Carrey: America Unmasked

Oct 14, 2021

Composed of numerous archives and film clips, this documentary is the story of a transgressive actor, a pirate who came to crack America's too perfect mask to reveal its most infantile and moronic face, right in the heart of the Hollywood system.

0.0

Reverse

Apr 18, 2025

They came to Donbass from different countries in search of truth. And they stayed on for the sake of those whose voices were not heard. Dialogues about war and duty, a long search for meaning amidst the ruins, working with tragic footage. This is a film about those for whom Donbass has become a refuge of truth.

7.5

Merchants of Doubt

Nov 8, 2014

Spin doctors spread misinformation and confusion among American citizens to delay progress on such important issues as global climate change.

5.7

Victory Through Air Power

Jul 17, 1943

Based on the book by Major Alexander de Seversky's about his theories of the practical uses of long range strategic bombing. Using a combination of animation humorously telling about the development of air warfare, the film shows de Seversky illustrating his ideas of how air power could win World War II for the Allies.

0.0

Rothko: Pictures Must Be Miraculous

Oct 25, 2019

Mark Rothko, a master of abstract expressionism, created 835 paintings during his five-decade career.

6.9

WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception

Dec 12, 2004

There were two wars in Iraq--a military assault and a media war. The former was well-covered; the latter was not. Until now... Independent filmmaker, Emmy-award winningTV journalist, author and media critic, Danny Schechter turns the cameras on the role of the media. His new film, WMD, is an outspoken assessment of how Pentagon propaganda and media complicity misled the American people...

6.4

Chaplin Today: The Great Dictator

Dec 30, 2003

A short documentary about the making of "The Great Dictator."

7.4

The Rape of Europa

Mar 17, 2007

World War II was not just the most destructive conflict in humanity, it was also the greatest theft in history: lives, families, communities, property, culture and heritage were all stolen. The story of Nazi Germany's plundering of Europe's great works of art during World War II and Allied efforts to minimize the damage.

The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl Trailers