Riefenstahl

Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003) began her career as a singer and actress, but her great passion was film. Even from her first film in 1926, it became clear that she was highly innovative, especially in terms of camera work and editing. And that attracted the attention of the Nazis, with whom she joined forces without hesitation. In 1935, for instance, commissioned by Nazi propaganda minister Goebbels, she made a cinematic report on the NSDAP party rally in Nuremberg: Triumph des Willens - a glorification of Hitler and his Nazi ideology.

After the war, she denied having been very closely involved with the Nazis, she had merely seized the opportunity to realise her cinematic ideas. If this is true, how was she able to gain such a prominent position within the Third Reich?

Director Andres Veiel tries to find the answer to that question in Riefenstahl's personal archives - 700 boxes full of letters, photos, videos and other documents. At the same time, he explores where the ethical limits of cinema lie. Or more broadly: how does art relate to politics?