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Helena (Leni) Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl

Running Head: OLYMPIA: BRILLANT CINEMATOGRAPHY

Olympia: Brilliant Cinematography or Nazi Propaganda?
University
Instructor: Prof

Olympia: Brilliant Cinematography or Nazi Propaganda?
The name Leni Riefenstahl to some is an incredible gifted producer, to another the century's most controversial filmmaker. "Olympia", a sports documentary of the 1936 summer Olympics, regardless of politics is arguable one of the greatest sports documentaries every filmed. This film captures the 1936 Olympics in way no other film had ever been created during this time period. The unbiased portrayal of these Olympic athletes as shown through innovative camera angles, techniques and ahead of her time film editing has made this a film of all time.
Helena (Leni) Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl was born in 1902 into a middle class family in Berlin, Germany. Riefenstahl was educated at the Realgymnasium in Berlin, and studied art at the Kunstakadmie. In her early years her passions were sports and modern dance, which her father didn't agree with. Bound by eagerness she secretly took dance lessons at the Grimm-Reiter School. Despite her father's protests, she pursued a career in dancing with her mother's blessing. If it had not been for a knee injury, some same she might have gone on to become a bright star in the dancing world.
Riefenstahl was the type of person who went after what she wanted. After the devastating knee injury she knew she wanted into the movie business. In the years to follow Riefenstahl had made three movies with Arnold Fanck, the founder of Bergfilm. One movie in particular The Holly Mountain was said to have been seen by Hitler who was an avid moviegoer and reader. Riefenstahl unfilled with the life of an actress wanted more; she wanted to become a producer.
In 1931 Riefenstahl directed her first film, Dam Blaue Licht "The Blue Light" which was produced, edited, and co-wrote with the Jewish film critic Bela Balazs, which was reissued in 1938...