Riefenstahl documentary explores Nazis' filmmaker's estate

The propaganda film "Triumph of the Will" focused on Hitler and the 1934 Nazi Party Rally in Nuremberg. Artfully directed, it is one of Leni Riefenstahl's best-known works. The premiere took place on March 28, 1935 in the Ufa-Palast am Zoo in Berlin. It was the second part of Riefenstahl's party rally trilogy, after "The Victory of Faith" and before "Day of Freedom! Our Armed Forces."

An award-winning work, "Triumph of the Will" quickly became one of the most prominent Nazi propaganda films. Its aesthetics would continue to influence filmmakers and advertisers long after World War II. But the film raised issues about the relationship between art, politics and morality.

In "Oympia," Riefenstahl documented the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin as "a festival of the peoples." The film divided critics: It was considered to be masterfully directed, but its propaganda elements — and in particular its celebration of the "fascist body cult" — were criticized. The above photo shows the lighting of the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony on August 1, 1936.

Riefenstahl was showered with awards for "Olympia." It began at the Paris World Exhibition in 1937, and many more accolades followed in Germany, Sweden, Italy and France. Time magazine still counts the work among the "100 best films of all time," as the director pioneered many of the techniques now common in the filming of sports.

This photo was taken around 1940, on the set of "Tiefland" (or "Lowlands"). Riefenstahl not only directed but also starred in the opera drama set in the Spanish Pyrenees mountains. To find extras with a specific "gypsy look," the director forcibly recruited over 100 Roma from the Maxglan-Leopoldskron labor camp near Salzburg, Austria.

"To my dear Führer with deepest respect," wrote Riefenstahl in this dedication dated June 20, 1933. Who could still have doubts about the filmmaker's political views? This book by the philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte, which Riefenstahl gave to Hitler as a gift, is now part of the "Third Reich Collection" of the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

"Underwater Impressions" was the title of Riefenstahl's documentary exploring the colorful underwater world of the Pacific Ocean. She released the film in 2002, shortly before her 100th birthday, after acquiring a diving license late in life.

Riefenstahl died in 2003 at the age of 101. Seen here are boxes full of books, film reels and photo archives that were stored in her villa in Bavaria until the end of 2017. Her sole heir, Gisela Jahn, who was Riefenstahl's former secretary, then bequeathed everything to state museums in Berlin. Filmmaker Andres Veiel investigated the entire archive for his upcoming documentary on the filmmaker.