Describe the life of Leni Riefenstahl. Leni Riefenstahl was born on 22 August 1902 to Bertha and Alfred. At an early age, Leni has been passionate about dancing and this carried onto her early twenties until 1924 where her dancing career came to an end. Her father, Alfred, has been strongly opposed to career path as a dancer because he saw it as entertainment for lower class women. However, Leni disobeyed her father and rebelled by secretly taking dance classes even when her father had sent her to boarding school. Eventually, her father permitted her to dance in exchange that she acquire some clerical skills at his office. Leni’s early career as a dance was a turning point in her career because she had attracted the attention of Mac Reinhardt, who employed Leni to his Deutches and Kammerspeile theatres. From this, Leni received an income in which she could support herself sufficiently. Max Reinhardt took Leni to tour the major European capitals and all over Germany but her dancing career came to a halt in Prague where she had torn a ligament in her knee. Another turning point in Leni’s life was when she was waiting at a train station to see her specialist that she encountered an advertisement about Arnold Fanck’s “Mountain of Destiny”. Leni claims this was fate steering her career and that when she saw the poster, she was enthralled that, that night sge gad trouble sleeping because she was imagining herself as the “Co-star of Arnold Fanck’s films” and “jumping and running over slopes and mountains”. Eager to become his next co-star, Lenis aught Fanck out in the Dolomites Mountain only to be met by Luis Trenker whom Leni was able to pass her photos and film reviews. Arnold Fanck, impressed by Leni’s confidence and beauty called her and made her his new lady of many of his ‘mountain genre’ films. It is here that Leni started many of his films, the finest piece being “The White Hell of Pizu Palu” which won much acclaim and praise. Her first film with Arnold Fanck was “The Holy Mountain” in 1926. It was also here that Leni was able to gain valuable firsthand experience on the art of filming. Her time here allowed her to observe how a director did his job and how cinematography was executed. Soon, Leni was going behind the lens rather than in front of it. Her last films with Arnold Fanck was “SOS Iceberg” which was collaborated with Pabsto. Leni’s directorial debut came in the release of her film, “The Blue light” in 1932. It accumulated praise and well-worthy comments. Leni’s controversial life was sealed when she had caught the attention of Hitler who had admired her artistic prowess. Leni had also revealed that she had admired Hitler when she came across one of his assemblies about a revived Germany. Soon, Leni was commissioned by Hitler to document three controversial films that would taint her film career forever. The first film that Hitler had asked of her was to document the 1933 Nuremberg Rally also know was “Victory of the Faith” which was blatant propaganda and one in which Leni was “anything but happy” as it has not, in her opinion, displayed her artistic flair. The second film was “Triumph of the Will” in 1935, when compared to “Victory of the Faith”, it was obviously the better product and claimed the best documentary piece ever created. The last film, though not commissioned by Hitler, was later uncovered to be completely funded by the Nazi Party, was “Olympia” about the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. “Triumph of the will” had received both the German Film Festival and a Gold Medal at the Venice Biennele and a Gold medal later in 1937 at the Paris World Fair. When Leni travelled to the U.S.A, she was bitterly welcomed as people were becoming aware of Hitler and his activities. Leni accepted the task of filming “Tiefland” base on the invasion of Poland but stopped when she witnessed the brutality of the treatment of the Poles. Her last film was a feature film which did not receive much praise. Leni was arrested by the United States for questioning and then imprisoned in Salzburg until 1945. She was arrested a second time by French authorities for questioning and put in house arrest. In 1946 she was de-nazified but she was continued to be labeled a Nazi sympathizer- one which would taint her directory career until her death. In the 60’s and 70’s Leni pursued still photography and underwater photography in the Indian Ocean and in Africa with the Nubia people/ one of her books is “Coral Garden” in 1974. Leni died in her sleep in 2003, a few weeks after her tenth birthday. .