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Release: April 7, 2020

$6.99

Description

Before she became a celebrated documentarian (and notorious public figure), Leni Riefenstahl was a popular actress, best known for her “mountain films” made by director Arnold Fanck. The Holy Mountain (Der heilige Berg, 1926) and The White Hell of Pitz Palu (Die weisse Hölle vom Piz Palü, 1929) were awe-inspiring dramas of romance and survival, but her 1927 film The Great Leap (Der große Sprung) was something surprisingly different: a playful romantic comedy set high atop the Dolomotes. Riefenstahl plays an Italian peasant whose simple life is upended when a series of urbanites invade the slopes for a ski vacation. This bubbly comedy (featuring Riefenstahl’s usual on-screen love interest, Luis Trenker) combines slapstick laughs with stunning footage of acrobatic skiing and rock climbing, making it perhaps the most entertaining (if unconventional) entry in the cycle of German mountain films. Special Features: -Audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan

Release: November 18, 2025

$7.99

Description

Filmmaker and Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl is considered one of the most controversial women of the 20th century. Her films Triumph of the Will and Olympia are defined by their fascist aesthetics, perfectly-staged body worship, and the celebration of all that is "superior" and victorious, simultaneously projecting contempt for the imperfect and weak. But Riefenstahl - who first broke into the German film industry as an actress - spent decades after the war denying her association with Nazi ideology, and claiming ignorance of the Holocaust. How did she become the Reich's preeminent filmmaker if she was just a hired hand? Riefenstahl examines this question using never-before-seen documents from Leni Riefenstahl's estate, including private films, photos, recordings and letters, uncovering fragments of her biography and placing them in an extended historical context. During her long life after the fall of Nazism, she remained unapologetic, managing to control and shape her legacy; in personal documents, she mourns her "murdered ideals." Meanwhile, her work would experience a renaissance, gaining esteem for it's masterful technical skill. Today, Riefenstahl's aesthetics are more present than ever. Is that also true for their message? In an era where fascism is on the rise again, fake news is prevalent, and the meaning of political imagery is constantly dissected and debated, Andres Veiel's mesmerizing new film shows that Leni Riefenstahl is more relevant than ever.