Nazi Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl Dies at 101 Story aired: Tuesday, September 09, 2003
The wonderful horrible life of Leni Riefenstahl has ended. The filmmaker who brought Hitler's image to the masses in her propaganda films "Triumph of the Will" and "Olympia" died Monday night in her home in Bavaria. She was 101.
In a 1965 interview, Riefenstahl said when the "Triumph of the Will" was made, it was not a propaganda film. She just captured events as they were happening with her camera and never added her own thoughts or observations.
At 91, she was herself the subject of a documentary called "The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl. The film details her famous filming style and her adventuresome spirit, but it also shows her unrepentant about her role in creating a monster. Throughout her adult life, Riefenstahl claimed she knew nothing about Nazi events being staged for her camera and about the genocide against Jews.
She takes with her to the grave the answer we will never know. She was the director. One of the greatest of all time. She called the shots. How could she not have known?
