1
00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,081
- Heil, workmen!
- Heil, my Führer!
2
00:02:53,976 --> 00:02:57,736
One people, one Führer!
3
00:03:12,322 --> 00:03:13,642
Get set...
4
00:04:08,311 --> 00:04:12,151
Mrs. Riefenstahl,
if you had your life to live over again...
5
00:04:12,951 --> 00:04:14,431
how would you live it?
6
00:04:14,671 --> 00:04:18,392
I think my life was very hard
but also very rich.
7
00:04:18,566 --> 00:04:21,727
I think I would say, "Yes, I want...
8
00:04:22,833 --> 00:04:24,193
to live again."
9
00:04:24,393 --> 00:04:25,673
The same way you did?
10
00:04:25,873 --> 00:04:29,313
This I don't know.
I hope I wouldn't make so many mistakes.
11
00:04:30,153 --> 00:04:31,954
What are your mistakes?
12
00:04:32,153 --> 00:04:33,554
- My mistakes?
- Yes.
13
00:04:33,914 --> 00:04:38,195
Would you say that one of them was
your close association with Hitler?
14
00:04:39,155 --> 00:04:40,875
Looking back now.
15
00:05:04,823 --> 00:05:07,104
"The Blue Light" was my first film.
16
00:05:07,304 --> 00:05:09,544
I was immersed in that world
when I made it.
17
00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,999
When I showed this scene
of me climbing the rock face
18
00:05:13,263 --> 00:05:17,625
to my friend Carl Mayer,
who was a famous screenwriter...
19
00:05:17,824 --> 00:05:19,945
- Yes.
- He said to me, "If they..."
20
00:05:22,278 --> 00:05:25,318
I don't know if the word "Nazi"
existed back then,
21
00:05:25,517 --> 00:05:28,398
but to me it was like he said,
"If the fascists,
22
00:05:28,597 --> 00:05:30,598
the National Socialists,
23
00:05:31,278 --> 00:05:32,678
saw you,
24
00:05:33,118 --> 00:05:35,479
you would become their idol."
25
00:05:39,159 --> 00:05:42,599
I have to tell you something.
Let me turn this off.
26
00:05:42,827 --> 00:05:45,010
CONVERSATION WITH
ALBRECHT KNAUS PUBLISHER -1978
27
00:05:50,201 --> 00:05:52,481
- Where were we again?
- '32.
28
00:05:52,681 --> 00:05:53,842
Yes, exactly.
29
00:05:54,882 --> 00:06:00,601
The first time I ever heard
about Hitler was in early 1932.
30
00:06:03,002 --> 00:06:05,443
By then the term "Nazi"
was in common use.
31
00:06:06,443 --> 00:06:07,563
- Really?
- Yes.
32
00:06:07,763 --> 00:06:10,562
Yes? I need a handkerchief.
33
00:06:20,845 --> 00:06:23,445
Then there was that rally in Berlin.
34
00:06:24,566 --> 00:06:28,285
And as he spoke his very first words,
35
00:06:28,815 --> 00:06:31,855
"My national comrades"...
36
00:06:35,616 --> 00:06:38,617
I was overcome
by a very peculiar feeling.
37
00:06:38,817 --> 00:06:42,296
My whole body was trembling
and I had hot sweats.
38
00:06:46,098 --> 00:06:48,618
And I was somehow
39
00:06:48,818 --> 00:06:51,938
captured, as if by a magnetic force.
40
00:08:14,188 --> 00:08:17,789
If someone a 100 or 200 years from now
41
00:08:19,549 --> 00:08:21,710
takes a look at your work,
42
00:08:22,629 --> 00:08:25,269
what would you like for them
to know about you?
43
00:08:25,470 --> 00:08:27,870
What is the most important thing
you would like someone
44
00:08:28,070 --> 00:08:31,190
a 100 years or 200 years from now
to know about you?
45
00:08:32,230 --> 00:08:35,912
I think, "The Blue Light",
because it is the key for my life.
46
00:09:19,677 --> 00:09:23,157
These photographs
are from Riefenstahl's estate.
47
00:09:25,876 --> 00:09:28,997
They document 101 years of her life.
48
00:09:44,359 --> 00:09:48,560
The estate also includes her films
and a large amount of footage
49
00:09:48,761 --> 00:09:51,601
that never appeared
in her officially released works.
50
00:09:53,161 --> 00:09:55,841
Some of the material appears to be random,
51
00:09:56,681 --> 00:10:00,921
while other items are well sorted,
or even carefully arranged.
52
00:10:04,843 --> 00:10:06,322
For something to be remembered,
53
00:10:07,642 --> 00:10:09,802
other things must be forgotten.
54
00:11:31,573 --> 00:11:35,094
You said "naive".
You used the word "naive" earlier.
55
00:11:35,294 --> 00:11:36,934
- Did I say "naive"?
- Yes.
56
00:11:37,134 --> 00:11:38,454
Will you revise it?
57
00:11:38,653 --> 00:11:42,294
I should rather say
I was inexperienced in that area.
58
00:11:42,494 --> 00:11:43,855
You mean politically?
59
00:11:44,054 --> 00:11:45,655
Yes, most certainly.
60
00:11:46,575 --> 00:11:48,095
Most certainly.
61
00:11:48,495 --> 00:11:50,696
Politics
62
00:11:51,376 --> 00:11:53,655
is the opposite of everything
63
00:11:53,855 --> 00:11:57,536
that has fulfilled and fascinated me
throughout my life.
64
00:11:57,856 --> 00:12:00,537
- What is the opposite of politics?
- Art.
65
00:12:01,737 --> 00:12:03,577
For me, I think it's art.
66
00:12:03,977 --> 00:12:08,457
Exploring things where you have
to penetrate to a deeper level.
67
00:12:09,017 --> 00:12:14,178
If you feel things intensely
as an artist, and I was born that way,
68
00:12:14,658 --> 00:12:19,659
you live your life so ardently,
so intensely, so passionately,
69
00:12:20,899 --> 00:12:24,739
that there's no room for interest
in real-world issues.
70
00:12:24,939 --> 00:12:26,139
So even today,
71
00:12:26,340 --> 00:12:29,940
you don't believe
that art and politics affect each other?
72
00:12:52,497 --> 00:12:54,367
THE WONDERFUL HORRIBLE
LIFE OF LENI RIEFENSTAHL
73
00:12:54,391 --> 00:12:55,639
Now comes an interesting part.
74
00:12:55,663 --> 00:12:58,464
This effect is created
by the camera elevator.
75
00:13:02,225 --> 00:13:03,905
Now the camera pans
76
00:13:05,785 --> 00:13:07,664
over to one side
77
00:13:08,184 --> 00:13:09,985
and then it pans back
78
00:13:10,465 --> 00:13:12,505
over to the other side.
79
00:13:13,345 --> 00:13:16,986
And these two shots combine
80
00:13:17,186 --> 00:13:20,067
to create the form of a circle,
81
00:13:20,827 --> 00:13:23,866
and the resulting effect
is very powerful.
82
00:13:24,067 --> 00:13:26,587
The columns of flags overlap here.
83
00:13:26,827 --> 00:13:29,027
Those are the Stahlhelm flags.
84
00:13:32,068 --> 00:13:34,269
Exactly in sync with the music.
85
00:13:43,029 --> 00:13:44,789
- Interesting?
- Super!
86
00:13:44,989 --> 00:13:47,670
That was the best scene of the day.
87
00:13:47,870 --> 00:13:49,350
Wasn't it super?
88
00:13:51,911 --> 00:13:55,271
When you made "Triumph of the Will",
you made it for Hitler.
89
00:13:55,830 --> 00:13:57,991
Oh no, never I would say this.
90
00:13:58,184 --> 00:14:01,071
I've got the order to do this and
I've made my duty as good as I was able.
91
00:14:01,129 --> 00:14:02,968
LENI RIEFENSTAHL IN HER OWN WORDS
92
00:14:02,992 --> 00:14:06,753
If Roosevelt gave me the order
and I must make a film
93
00:14:06,952 --> 00:14:10,192
about the planes,
I would do my best.
94
00:14:10,386 --> 00:14:14,386
The same would be if I get
the order of Stalin to make something.
95
00:14:15,194 --> 00:14:19,474
In the moment I have the camera,
the cameramen, the sound, everything.
96
00:14:19,674 --> 00:14:21,474
I see the work.
97
00:14:35,316 --> 00:14:37,355
They are mistaken!
98
00:14:38,716 --> 00:14:42,476
The state does not give us orders,
99
00:14:42,677 --> 00:14:46,237
we give orders to the state!
100
00:14:50,558 --> 00:14:54,318
The state did not create us,
101
00:14:55,118 --> 00:14:58,798
we are creating our state!
102
00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:12,960
My Führer!
103
00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:15,281
You are Germany!
104
00:15:16,521 --> 00:15:19,842
When you act, the nation acts!
105
00:15:20,041 --> 00:15:23,281
When you judge, the people judge!
106
00:15:24,361 --> 00:15:28,002
You asked me if the film had a message.
107
00:15:28,682 --> 00:15:32,723
When I edited the film, I did realize
108
00:15:32,923 --> 00:15:37,083
that there is a certain message.
You can find it in the film.
109
00:15:41,604 --> 00:15:45,205
You have been our guarantor of victory.
110
00:15:45,964 --> 00:15:48,765
Hess's rally speech in particular,
111
00:15:49,125 --> 00:15:53,565
when he says,
"Hitler is our guarantor of peace".
112
00:15:54,005 --> 00:15:55,485
Adolf Hitler!
113
00:15:55,925 --> 00:15:58,966
Sieg Heil!
114
00:15:59,526 --> 00:16:02,807
"Peace, peace"...
That's a constant in the film.
115
00:16:03,007 --> 00:16:05,968
There's no mention
of other political goals or motives.
116
00:16:06,167 --> 00:16:10,607
There's no mention of antisemitism,
there's no mention of racial theory.
117
00:16:10,807 --> 00:16:12,928
It's just about work and peace.
118
00:16:18,969 --> 00:16:23,408
A people that does not
hold dear its racial purity
119
00:16:23,609 --> 00:16:25,249
will perish!
120
00:16:56,013 --> 00:16:59,893
But doesn't an artist who makes films
have a broad impact on people?
121
00:17:00,094 --> 00:17:01,894
- Yes.
- And doesn't such an artist
122
00:17:02,094 --> 00:17:03,894
have a very special responsibility?
123
00:17:04,094 --> 00:17:05,854
What responsibility should I have?
124
00:17:06,054 --> 00:17:10,255
After all, back then 90 percent of
the people were enthralled by Hitler.
125
00:17:10,454 --> 00:17:13,135
You think I should have been
a resistance fighter?
126
00:17:13,335 --> 00:17:15,416
There were only very few.
127
00:17:15,615 --> 00:17:19,376
Should I have joined those few,
or what do you mean?
128
00:18:35,625 --> 00:18:39,625
My two guests tonight
are two elderly ladies, one could say.
129
00:18:39,826 --> 00:18:42,347
They are both in their seventies.
130
00:18:42,546 --> 00:18:45,267
Most of you
will probably know one of them:
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00:18:45,467 --> 00:18:46,427
Leni Riefenstahl.
132
00:18:47,148 --> 00:18:49,827
Next to Mrs. Riefenstahl is someone
133
00:18:50,187 --> 00:18:53,948
who I think very few people know,
Elfriede Kretschmer.
134
00:18:54,147 --> 00:18:56,948
Mrs. Kretschmar,
we know Mrs. Riefenstahl made films.
135
00:18:57,148 --> 00:18:58,508
What did you do?
136
00:18:58,828 --> 00:18:59,949
I worked.
137
00:19:00,268 --> 00:19:01,709
I was a worker.
138
00:19:06,469 --> 00:19:09,670
- Were you politically active back then?
- Yes, very much so.
139
00:19:10,310 --> 00:19:13,791
I couldn't go along with all of that.
I just couldn't do it.
140
00:19:13,990 --> 00:19:17,911
My upbringing,
my belief in a different Germany
141
00:19:18,111 --> 00:19:20,231
than what it became for 12 years...
142
00:19:21,231 --> 00:19:24,712
I was lucky.
I was what you'd call a "German woman".
143
00:19:24,911 --> 00:19:27,312
I was blonde, blue-eyed, and so on.
144
00:19:27,552 --> 00:19:29,952
But what the men
went through in Hamburg...
145
00:19:30,152 --> 00:19:32,033
I can only speak of Hamburg.
146
00:19:32,313 --> 00:19:35,232
In the Fuhlsbüttel
concentration camp, in Neuengamme...
147
00:19:36,193 --> 00:19:39,954
Since you're both
from the same generation,
148
00:19:40,153 --> 00:19:41,913
when was the first time
149
00:19:42,114 --> 00:19:43,754
you heard the name Riefenstahl?
150
00:19:44,114 --> 00:19:47,554
It was when I saw your film
"The Blue Light",
151
00:19:47,755 --> 00:19:50,794
which I found fascinating
on a technical level.
152
00:19:50,995 --> 00:19:54,195
But with the later films
I was actually
153
00:19:55,155 --> 00:19:59,196
quite saddened that
a woman would make films
154
00:19:59,396 --> 00:20:01,877
that were against all of humanity.
155
00:20:02,117 --> 00:20:05,277
And even today I still maintain
156
00:20:07,236 --> 00:20:10,957
that no one, or at least
no one who lived in a big city,
157
00:20:11,158 --> 00:20:13,998
can claim they didn't know
what was happening.
158
00:20:14,558 --> 00:20:17,159
We were in our 30s at the time,
159
00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:19,519
and we knew what we were doing.
160
00:20:20,198 --> 00:20:22,358
But how does someone end up
161
00:20:22,559 --> 00:20:24,559
shooting films like that?
162
00:20:24,759 --> 00:20:28,200
In my opinion, they are
Pied Piper films, if I may say so.
163
00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,720
I could never accept anything like that.
164
00:20:31,921 --> 00:20:34,041
I never wanted to make a documentary.
165
00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,200
I was commissioned to do it.
166
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:38,120
- And I...
- By whom?
167
00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:42,362
- By Hitler. Hitler had...
- I would have refused.
168
00:20:42,561 --> 00:20:43,802
Yes, maybe.
169
00:20:44,002 --> 00:20:45,082
But no one would've refused.
170
00:20:45,282 --> 00:20:47,962
Back then, the whole world
was enthralled by Hitler.
171
00:20:48,202 --> 00:20:51,122
One year after that, Mr. Churchill said,
172
00:20:51,322 --> 00:20:53,403
"I envy the Germans for their leader".
173
00:20:53,602 --> 00:20:56,483
And I saw all the diplomats
at the Nuremburg rally.
174
00:20:56,963 --> 00:21:00,163
They paid court to Hitler,
but I didn't film that.
175
00:21:00,364 --> 00:21:04,164
- We're not accusing you.
- The lady said she wouldn't do it.
176
00:21:04,404 --> 00:21:05,724
The whole world?
177
00:21:05,923 --> 00:21:08,724
Back then, all the ambassadors
were represented there.
178
00:21:08,924 --> 00:21:11,965
- Ambassadors aren't 'the world'!
- Germany was admired.
179
00:21:12,205 --> 00:21:14,085
But the entire press as well!
180
00:21:15,566 --> 00:21:17,126
The entire press!
181
00:21:18,006 --> 00:21:20,325
Back then, I couldn't foresee
182
00:21:20,526 --> 00:21:23,966
what was going to happen.
Nor could millions of others.
183
00:21:24,166 --> 00:21:27,487
And you just have to believe that.
You can't always...
184
00:21:27,687 --> 00:21:31,367
In retrospect, I'd be happy
if I'd witnessed it like you.
185
00:21:31,568 --> 00:21:33,448
I'd be so happy about it!
186
00:21:33,648 --> 00:21:37,568
Because then I could say,
"I witnessed it, I knew about it."
187
00:21:37,768 --> 00:21:41,088
But these days it's much more difficult
188
00:21:41,289 --> 00:21:44,609
for those who didn't know
because no one believes them.
189
00:21:44,809 --> 00:21:46,090
No one believes them.
190
00:21:46,290 --> 00:21:50,050
And that is very difficult, believe me.
It's incredibly difficult.
191
00:22:08,091 --> 00:22:12,172
CONTROVERSY FOLLOWING
LENI RIEFENSTAHL'S TV APPEARANCE
192
00:22:14,973 --> 00:22:17,093
GERMAN MAIL
(WEST)
193
00:22:17,373 --> 00:22:19,253
After the talk show appearance,
194
00:22:19,453 --> 00:22:23,174
Riefenstahl receives
hundreds of letters and phone calls.
195
00:22:23,374 --> 00:22:27,735
She meticulously sorts and archives
the strong public reaction.
196
00:22:30,655 --> 00:22:34,535
"I would like to congratulate you,
also on behalf of many people I know,
197
00:22:34,734 --> 00:22:37,415
on your courageous appearance
on the talk show."
198
00:22:37,655 --> 00:22:40,936
"How can you put a personality
of Leni Riefenstahl's caliber
199
00:22:41,136 --> 00:22:43,056
opposite someone like Mrs. Kretschmar,
200
00:22:43,256 --> 00:22:47,178
who had nothing to say except that she
'worked'. Who didn't have to work?"
201
00:22:47,377 --> 00:22:52,177
"As you have realized, the majority
of West Germans are on your side."
202
00:23:02,979 --> 00:23:06,539
I would just like to say that, after
the program on Saturday evening,
203
00:23:06,739 --> 00:23:08,540
I deeply admire Mrs. Riefenstahl.
204
00:23:08,739 --> 00:23:12,780
Her whole demeanor impressed us.
Thank you.
205
00:23:15,581 --> 00:23:16,661
Hello?
206
00:23:16,861 --> 00:23:18,820
Dear Mrs. Riefenstahl,
207
00:23:19,260 --> 00:23:23,301
don't let those swines
like Rosenbauer bring you down.
208
00:23:23,501 --> 00:23:26,341
Justice will prevail in the end.
209
00:23:27,982 --> 00:23:30,983
Certainly there were
many reactions...
210
00:23:31,183 --> 00:23:34,982
Many? It was more than anything
I've ever experienced.
211
00:23:35,183 --> 00:23:37,703
I'm getting more and more letters.
212
00:23:37,903 --> 00:23:39,783
Audience letters
213
00:23:40,303 --> 00:23:42,303
(1) Letters to the broadcaster
and newspapers
214
00:23:42,504 --> 00:23:44,864
(2) Normal mail/autograph requests
215
00:23:45,064 --> 00:23:47,985
(3) Letters with flowers,
telegrams, or money
216
00:23:48,184 --> 00:23:49,945
(4) Private letters
217
00:23:50,144 --> 00:23:51,865
(5) Foreign letters
218
00:23:52,065 --> 00:23:54,625
(6) Letters from National Socialists
219
00:23:54,825 --> 00:23:58,946
(7) Letters from those with
different views, Communists, Jews etc.
220
00:23:59,906 --> 00:24:03,185
One moment, please.
I have to call my assistant.
221
00:24:03,386 --> 00:24:05,547
Horst? Horst!
222
00:24:06,426 --> 00:24:08,507
Stay here with me, Horst.
223
00:24:08,747 --> 00:24:12,187
Horst is my assistant.
He's a student of mine.
224
00:24:12,388 --> 00:24:16,589
He set it to 'record',
and now we've got so many cassettes...
225
00:24:21,108 --> 00:24:23,348
Kettner, Mrs. Riefenstahl's assistant.
226
00:24:23,549 --> 00:24:26,589
I wrote a reader's letter.
227
00:24:26,790 --> 00:24:28,790
- Yes?
- And I made it very clear
228
00:24:29,030 --> 00:24:31,110
how disgraceful it was to watch
229
00:24:31,310 --> 00:24:33,669
Mrs. Riefenstahl being humiliated
230
00:24:33,870 --> 00:24:37,150
by a clueless and crude talk master
231
00:24:37,430 --> 00:24:42,351
and turned into an object of agitation
by a hateful activist grandma.
232
00:24:42,551 --> 00:24:44,392
You phrased that very well.
233
00:24:44,591 --> 00:24:48,711
I'm a screenwriter by profession.
I write TV scripts for "Crime Scene".
234
00:25:07,034 --> 00:25:11,354
One man repeatedly crops up
in the photos taken during these years:
235
00:25:11,555 --> 00:25:13,395
Horst Kettner.
236
00:25:18,435 --> 00:25:20,955
He is 40 years younger than Riefenstahl.
237
00:25:24,116 --> 00:25:27,197
Their relationship begins in 1967.
238
00:25:29,517 --> 00:25:33,757
From that point on
they are partners in both life and work.
239
00:25:51,439 --> 00:25:54,440
We didn't feel the age difference,
be it younger or older.
240
00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,241
We always felt the same age.
241
00:26:01,602 --> 00:26:05,161
After all, when there's
a 40-year age difference,
242
00:26:05,361 --> 00:26:07,401
one partner must always give in.
243
00:26:07,602 --> 00:26:09,122
And that's me.
244
00:26:14,843 --> 00:26:18,723
Many people admire me
for putting up with her for so long.
245
00:26:18,922 --> 00:26:20,123
It's the other way round!
246
00:26:20,323 --> 00:26:23,123
- Leni says it's the other way.
- The other way round!
247
00:26:35,965 --> 00:26:37,645
In the late 1970s,
248
00:26:37,846 --> 00:26:40,806
Riefenstahl and Horst Kettner
move into a spacious home
249
00:26:41,006 --> 00:26:43,406
near the shores of Lake Starnberg.
250
00:26:46,567 --> 00:26:50,967
It is from here that Riefenstahl,
aided by her numerous supporters,
251
00:26:51,167 --> 00:26:55,328
campaigns to influence
the public perception of her biography.
252
00:26:59,769 --> 00:27:03,169
- Riefenstahl speaking.
- I'd just like to say this:
253
00:27:03,649 --> 00:27:05,809
You have no reason to be nervous.
254
00:27:06,009 --> 00:27:08,529
You have achieved
a great deal in your life.
255
00:27:08,729 --> 00:27:13,050
Yes, but the press derides it.
They don't honor it at all.
256
00:27:13,250 --> 00:27:16,571
You shouldn't put so much store
in the gutter press, you know?
257
00:27:16,769 --> 00:27:20,531
I'm an editor at the "Abendzeitung"
in Munich, Mrs. Riefenstahl.
258
00:27:20,730 --> 00:27:23,091
The "Abendzeitung" in Munich?
259
00:27:23,291 --> 00:27:26,812
So it's going to be another hatchet job?
260
00:27:27,012 --> 00:27:30,132
For your information,
newspapers such as BILD
261
00:27:30,332 --> 00:27:34,212
- are actually right-wing.
- Yes, but it has a Jewish slant.
262
00:27:34,412 --> 00:27:38,973
Well, Springer publishers invested
in big offices down there in Tel Aviv.
263
00:27:39,173 --> 00:27:40,453
Yes, exactly.
264
00:27:40,653 --> 00:27:44,974
BILD newspaper described them
as "Pied Piper films" in their article.
265
00:27:48,974 --> 00:27:51,614
"TRIUMPH OF THE WILL"
266
00:27:51,814 --> 00:27:53,495
NEGATIVE
267
00:27:59,136 --> 00:28:04,376
May the bright flame of our fervor
never be extinguished!
268
00:28:04,576 --> 00:28:08,016
It alone is what gives the creative art
269
00:28:08,217 --> 00:28:12,337
of modern political propaganda
its light and warmth.
270
00:28:20,778 --> 00:28:27,300
The era of excessive Jewish
intellectualism is now over!
271
00:28:29,100 --> 00:28:31,980
The breakthrough of the German revolution
272
00:28:32,580 --> 00:28:36,020
has cleared the path
for the German spirit.
273
00:28:40,341 --> 00:28:43,622
In one bold, grandiose sweep,
274
00:28:44,662 --> 00:28:48,422
we have herded together
the enemies of this land!
275
00:28:52,902 --> 00:28:54,942
They should beware!
276
00:28:56,983 --> 00:29:00,184
One day our patience will run out,
277
00:29:00,384 --> 00:29:04,663
and then we will finally shut
the Jews' impudent lying mouths!
278
00:29:20,185 --> 00:29:23,506
It was a very big thing with Goebbels.
279
00:29:23,706 --> 00:29:28,827
He was crazy because he
practically risked his life to get me.
280
00:29:29,588 --> 00:29:34,187
- So it was an adventure?
- I had many adventures with Goebbels!
281
00:29:34,387 --> 00:29:37,628
He read 'Zarathustra' to me,
he kneeled before me.
282
00:29:37,828 --> 00:29:40,428
He tried everything to get me.
283
00:29:40,629 --> 00:29:45,269
One night, he drove away with me
in my car and we turned it over.
284
00:29:45,469 --> 00:29:47,628
- And...
- Like in a bad film?
285
00:29:48,629 --> 00:29:52,030
Yes. By the way,
I shouldn't forget to mention
286
00:29:52,510 --> 00:29:57,671
that two times, once when he was minister
and we were in his apartment,
287
00:29:58,831 --> 00:30:01,550
he wanted to take me by force.
288
00:30:06,730 --> 00:30:09,769
THE WONDERFUL, HORRIBLE LIFE OF
LENI RIEFENSTAHL - UNRELEASED FOOTAGE
289
00:30:09,792 --> 00:30:12,232
45, 3047, 48, 49, 50...
290
00:30:13,473 --> 00:30:17,593
- Rolling!
- Sound speed.
291
00:30:17,792 --> 00:30:19,033
Okay.
292
00:30:19,552 --> 00:30:24,953
Goebbels wanted to have me at any cost,
he wanted to make me his lover.
293
00:30:25,274 --> 00:30:28,595
But he wasn't my type at all.
294
00:30:28,835 --> 00:30:31,434
I didn't feel attracted to him.
295
00:30:31,634 --> 00:30:36,595
Hitler had no idea
what had happened with Dr. Goebbels.
296
00:30:36,955 --> 00:30:41,116
All the affairs he had with me...
297
00:30:41,316 --> 00:30:45,876
May I just correct you?
You used an unfortunate phrasing:
298
00:30:46,076 --> 00:30:49,757
- "All the affairs he had with me".
- No, that's not good...
299
00:30:49,957 --> 00:30:51,717
Can we do it again, please?
300
00:30:53,397 --> 00:30:56,918
When we read
Goebbels' diaries from early 1933,
301
00:30:57,118 --> 00:31:01,758
one has the impression you visited Hitler
and Goebbels at home like a good friend.
302
00:31:01,958 --> 00:31:04,519
That's pure fantasy. It's not true.
303
00:31:04,718 --> 00:31:07,719
I know those comments in his diary.
I never...
304
00:31:07,919 --> 00:31:11,639
You visited him about ten times,
went to the cinema...
305
00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,601
It can't be true, just do the math.
306
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:17,600
I wasn't with him ten times.
That's untrue.
307
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,841
You should take a closer look, Mr. Müller.
308
00:31:21,041 --> 00:31:23,641
We need to stop
because it's not correct.
309
00:31:23,841 --> 00:31:28,922
If you like, we'll check it
entry by entry that's written there.
310
00:31:29,122 --> 00:31:34,322
But socially... He would've had to
invite me to his home at least once.
311
00:31:34,522 --> 00:31:37,403
- And he didn't?
- No. Not once!
312
00:31:37,603 --> 00:31:39,883
Not even to Schwanenwerder,
where they'd all go.
313
00:31:40,123 --> 00:31:43,364
Not only did I not go,
I wasn't even invited!
314
00:31:44,564 --> 00:31:47,763
- I'm so upset about what you said.
- Let's take a break.
315
00:31:47,964 --> 00:31:49,044
Unheard of!
316
00:31:49,244 --> 00:31:52,765
- I can show it to you...
- Then show me where it says
317
00:31:52,965 --> 00:31:56,445
that I would come and go
like a good friend.
318
00:31:56,645 --> 00:31:58,886
- Okay, let's take a break.
- Horsti!
319
00:31:59,086 --> 00:32:01,965
- Horsti, I have to defend...
- They're filming all of this.
320
00:32:02,205 --> 00:32:05,966
Yes, maybe so.
No, they can't film this!
321
00:32:06,286 --> 00:32:08,927
I won't carry on if you keep filming
322
00:32:09,126 --> 00:32:11,968
outside of the interview when I'm upset.
323
00:32:12,167 --> 00:32:15,807
- I won't go on. No way!
- I can show you...
324
00:32:16,007 --> 00:32:19,207
- We're having a conversation.
- No, you can film that,
325
00:32:19,408 --> 00:32:21,048
but not when I said stop!
326
00:32:21,248 --> 00:32:23,168
- But we continued and you...
- No!
327
00:32:23,369 --> 00:32:25,609
I was talking off the record!
328
00:32:25,809 --> 00:32:28,809
- But it wasn't...
- Would I say that in front of a camera?
329
00:32:29,010 --> 00:32:32,850
- You said I should prove it to you.
- Yes... No! No!
330
00:32:33,169 --> 00:32:35,570
But then we carried on...
331
00:32:35,770 --> 00:32:37,610
No, everything from there must go!
332
00:32:37,810 --> 00:32:40,611
- Calm down, this won't help.
- Excuse me! No!
333
00:32:40,811 --> 00:32:43,412
- I won't be abused here!
- You can't call it off now.
334
00:32:43,652 --> 00:32:46,091
Take that away until it's cut...
335
00:32:59,572 --> 00:33:03,533
I read the interview with you
in yesterday's evening paper.
336
00:33:03,733 --> 00:33:05,653
- Yes...
- And you said
337
00:33:05,854 --> 00:33:08,014
- that you want to write your memoirs.
- Yes.
338
00:33:08,214 --> 00:33:10,454
And that would be a huge success.
339
00:33:11,575 --> 00:33:15,134
- You should do it. It takes a long time.
- I know.
340
00:33:15,335 --> 00:33:17,174
But I went through it all,
341
00:33:17,375 --> 00:33:20,535
it's all written in my body
and in my mind.
342
00:33:27,097 --> 00:33:30,937
Riefenstahl works on her memoirs
for over ten years.
343
00:33:32,656 --> 00:33:35,457
Page after page,
she grapples with the task
344
00:33:35,657 --> 00:33:38,258
of shaping how she will be remembered.
345
00:33:40,978 --> 00:33:43,338
I'm trying to find something here.
346
00:33:43,899 --> 00:33:45,618
A new page...
347
00:33:47,379 --> 00:33:49,819
Let's see what you wrote today.
348
00:33:50,379 --> 00:33:52,060
I'll go around you...
349
00:33:58,340 --> 00:34:02,100
The assault by Goebbels
is just one of many that she describes
350
00:34:02,300 --> 00:34:04,621
in the draft of her memoirs.
351
00:34:13,342 --> 00:34:16,382
"Feelings of desperation..."
352
00:34:16,582 --> 00:34:20,223
"Father especially irritable."
353
00:34:20,463 --> 00:34:23,183
"without tenderness."
354
00:34:23,384 --> 00:34:25,584
"The first man"
355
00:34:31,024 --> 00:34:32,865
"Although I didn't want to admit it,
356
00:34:33,064 --> 00:34:37,505
I had developed strong feelings
for the tennis player Otto Froitzheim.
357
00:34:41,346 --> 00:34:44,665
I was informed that he intended
to invite me for tea
358
00:34:44,866 --> 00:34:46,906
at his flat in Tiergarten.
359
00:34:48,026 --> 00:34:50,306
He put on a gramophone record
360
00:34:50,507 --> 00:34:54,027
and without resisting
I let him pull me out of my chair.
361
00:34:55,587 --> 00:34:58,388
I danced with him as if hypnotized.
362
00:34:59,587 --> 00:35:01,467
He practically tore my clothes off,
363
00:35:02,908 --> 00:35:05,469
and tried to take me by brute force.
364
00:35:08,509 --> 00:35:09,669
He entered me,
365
00:35:10,149 --> 00:35:12,190
and I screamed out in pain."
366
00:35:12,510 --> 00:35:15,069
"Shame"
367
00:35:15,269 --> 00:35:17,470
"Love"
368
00:35:21,990 --> 00:35:25,192
Riefenstahl describes the encounter
with Otto Froitzheim
369
00:35:25,391 --> 00:35:29,511
in exactly the same way in
different stages of the writing process.
370
00:35:30,112 --> 00:35:33,472
However, she varies
her accounts of other events.
371
00:35:33,672 --> 00:35:36,752
Almost as if she needs
to make sure herself.
372
00:35:37,553 --> 00:35:40,473
"Rauchfangswerder"
373
00:35:56,955 --> 00:35:58,834
"My father often said,
374
00:35:59,115 --> 00:36:01,835
'It's a pity you weren't born a boy.'
375
00:36:04,436 --> 00:36:08,877
I was barely five and my father
wanted me to learn how to swim.
376
00:36:09,837 --> 00:36:12,358
He made me a life jacket out of reeds
377
00:36:12,557 --> 00:36:14,997
and tossed me into the water.
378
00:36:17,717 --> 00:36:20,838
I can still remember
those seconds of drowning,
379
00:36:22,118 --> 00:36:23,879
the thoughts...
380
00:36:24,758 --> 00:36:27,119
Before I lost consciousness in the water,
381
00:36:27,319 --> 00:36:31,719
I was overcome by a feeling
that death by drowning was not so bad.
382
00:36:35,679 --> 00:36:38,161
I soon became a strong swimmer."
383
00:36:46,761 --> 00:36:48,321
"the men"
384
00:36:49,281 --> 00:36:51,041
"I saw my father..."
385
00:36:53,242 --> 00:36:55,002
During the writing process,
386
00:36:55,203 --> 00:36:57,683
she records conversations
with her publisher
387
00:36:57,883 --> 00:37:00,042
and other acquaintances on tape.
388
00:37:00,243 --> 00:37:01,883
CASSETTE TAPES
MANUSCRIPT
389
00:37:02,083 --> 00:37:03,523
MEMOIRS
390
00:37:03,723 --> 00:37:07,604
Since you mention childhood,
another thing that happened
391
00:37:07,804 --> 00:37:09,725
when I was about 12 or 13...
392
00:37:10,004 --> 00:37:12,804
- Is that clear enough?
- Yes, certainly.
393
00:37:13,222 --> 00:37:15,503
CONVERSATION WITH
DIETER WILD JOURNALIST
394
00:37:17,725 --> 00:37:20,406
As children, we used to steal.
395
00:37:20,725 --> 00:37:25,327
One day, I was in a general store
396
00:37:26,487 --> 00:37:29,446
and I secretly took a bar of chocolate.
397
00:37:31,006 --> 00:37:33,207
My father beat me half to death.
398
00:37:33,847 --> 00:37:38,768
He had a coat hanger or something,
and he gave me a terrible beating.
399
00:37:39,088 --> 00:37:44,968
Then he locked me up in a toilet
for about 12 hours.
400
00:37:47,289 --> 00:37:52,210
But I still wouldn't accept
that I was wrong. Imagine that.
401
00:37:52,409 --> 00:37:53,929
Just a moment...
402
00:38:03,410 --> 00:38:06,811
These passages do not appear
in her published memoirs.
403
00:38:07,371 --> 00:38:11,012
And in later interviews
she makes no mention of them.
404
00:38:38,176 --> 00:38:39,895
My mother...
405
00:38:40,615 --> 00:38:44,695
saw my life
as the fulfillment of her own life.
406
00:38:48,497 --> 00:38:50,617
You mean your mother was also ambitious?
407
00:38:50,816 --> 00:38:54,337
She, too, had the wish to play a part?
408
00:38:56,337 --> 00:39:00,217
So basically
one could say that you are...
409
00:39:01,818 --> 00:39:05,059
the daughter of a stage mother,
to put it provocatively.
410
00:39:05,258 --> 00:39:07,779
"Stage mother"? She was never on stage.
411
00:39:07,979 --> 00:39:09,819
It's when a young girl's career...
412
00:39:10,019 --> 00:39:11,620
I see. When the mother...
413
00:39:11,819 --> 00:39:14,459
is dictated by a mother
who tries to achieve
414
00:39:14,660 --> 00:39:17,620
what she herself dreamed of doing.
415
00:39:17,819 --> 00:39:20,901
Yes. My mother would say,
"You can't give up, Leni.
416
00:39:21,100 --> 00:39:24,021
- You must persevere. You really must!"
- Yes.
417
00:40:23,228 --> 00:40:25,709
- Cheers!
- Cheers! Thank you.
418
00:40:25,909 --> 00:40:27,948
Isn't it nice to meet again?
419
00:40:28,148 --> 00:40:30,469
This won't be the last time.
420
00:40:30,559 --> 00:40:33,570
CONVERSATION WITH SCHOOL FRIENDS
ALICE AND HERTHA
421
00:40:34,029 --> 00:40:36,150
How sweet, Horst. Thank you.
422
00:40:37,310 --> 00:40:39,470
Would you like another coffee?
423
00:40:39,871 --> 00:40:41,710
- No, thanks so much.
- And you?
424
00:40:42,150 --> 00:40:46,191
You know what I wanted
to ask you, Alice?
425
00:40:46,671 --> 00:40:49,352
How old were we when we first met?
426
00:40:49,551 --> 00:40:51,392
Well, I joined the school
427
00:40:52,392 --> 00:40:56,632
- and I noticed that you were very pretty.
- Oh, yes?
428
00:40:56,831 --> 00:40:59,752
You were incredibly ambitious.
429
00:40:59,952 --> 00:41:01,193
You would throw a fit,
430
00:41:01,392 --> 00:41:04,714
sometimes it was an act
and sometimes it was genuine,
431
00:41:04,913 --> 00:41:06,874
if things didn't work out
432
00:41:07,074 --> 00:41:09,914
or if you didn't get the praise
you expected for your work,
433
00:41:10,115 --> 00:41:11,713
if you didn't get an A.
434
00:41:21,836 --> 00:41:23,796
You had a black tulle dress
435
00:41:23,996 --> 00:41:26,235
and you looked like a femme fatale.
436
00:41:26,715 --> 00:41:29,196
And Mrs. Kollmorgen said,
437
00:41:29,636 --> 00:41:33,917
"Your daughter is a beauty",
and we looked up the word.
438
00:41:45,838 --> 00:41:47,598
You know what she did?
439
00:41:47,799 --> 00:41:49,799
She once said to her mother,
440
00:41:49,999 --> 00:41:54,800
"You know, Mommy? I think Hertha
will look quite nice when she's older."
441
00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:56,959
So very gracious of her!
442
00:41:57,319 --> 00:41:59,960
That's so typical of my friend Leni!
443
00:42:01,560 --> 00:42:04,481
- You were the first one to...
- I was an early developer.
444
00:42:04,681 --> 00:42:06,441
I looked like your nanny.
445
00:42:06,641 --> 00:42:10,442
We showed each other our breasts,
and mine were the biggest.
446
00:42:10,642 --> 00:42:14,522
I was a terribly late developer
in that area.
447
00:42:14,721 --> 00:42:18,163
I began stuffing socks
into my bra in my schooldays.
448
00:42:18,482 --> 00:42:21,443
- Because I had no breasts yet and...
- We can't say that!
449
00:42:21,643 --> 00:42:23,123
Sure, we can.
450
00:42:23,324 --> 00:42:25,963
- I did all sorts of things.
- You used paint...
451
00:42:26,163 --> 00:42:31,364
- I put red paint on my knickers.
- To show off her period!
452
00:42:34,084 --> 00:42:35,765
But she hadn't had one yet!
453
00:42:35,964 --> 00:42:39,685
I thought that none of you
took me seriously.
454
00:42:57,347 --> 00:42:59,762
THE WHITE HELL OF PIZ PALU
455
00:43:18,089 --> 00:43:22,410
From the mid-1920s
Riefenstahl works with Arnold Fanck,
456
00:43:22,611 --> 00:43:26,211
the famous director
of many successful "mountain films".
457
00:43:28,451 --> 00:43:30,971
Although she had never acted before,
458
00:43:31,171 --> 00:43:33,331
Riefenstahl demands a leading role.
459
00:43:45,333 --> 00:43:48,374
The film is shot under extreme conditions.
460
00:43:51,635 --> 00:43:54,374
STORM OVER MONT BLANC
461
00:44:10,976 --> 00:44:16,017
Tethered by a rope, she once
plunges 15 meters into a crevasse.
462
00:44:17,337 --> 00:44:21,338
She risks frostbite
while shooting at minus 20 degrees.
463
00:44:29,138 --> 00:44:32,099
Riefenstahl is the only woman on set.
464
00:44:33,859 --> 00:44:36,780
All of the men
are First World War veterans.
465
00:44:46,780 --> 00:44:54,342
"Memory is the only paradise
from which we cannot be banished!"
466
00:45:19,465 --> 00:45:21,745
STORM OVER MONT BLANC
467
00:45:26,946 --> 00:45:31,147
In 1933, Ernst Udet writes in his memoirs:
468
00:45:33,067 --> 00:45:36,107
"My generation has been shaped by the war.
469
00:45:36,668 --> 00:45:39,148
The weaker ones were broken by it.
470
00:45:39,947 --> 00:45:43,988
But for the rest of us,
the will to live has grown stronger.
471
00:45:49,548 --> 00:45:51,910
We were soldiers without a flag.
472
00:45:52,829 --> 00:45:55,229
But the Führer gave us one to hold up."
473
00:47:07,678 --> 00:47:11,679
You say, you were just there to take a
picture of what was going on in Nuremberg.
474
00:47:11,878 --> 00:47:14,839
Absolut.
It was nothing made for the film.
475
00:47:15,039 --> 00:47:19,640
I was only six days before
the rally was starting in Nuremberg.
476
00:47:20,280 --> 00:47:23,960
You have been quoted as saying
that it was staged for your benefit.
477
00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:27,761
This have written journalists but not I.
It was nothing staged.
478
00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:30,321
You've probably read also,
479
00:47:30,521 --> 00:47:33,562
there was one critic who said
that this film could never have been made
480
00:47:33,762 --> 00:47:36,402
by anyone not fanatically at one
with the events depicted.
481
00:47:36,602 --> 00:47:38,042
And another critic called it
482
00:47:38,243 --> 00:47:41,442
"a hymn of praise
to brute strength and mindless hysteria."
483
00:47:41,642 --> 00:47:44,563
This is the opinion of critic people.
484
00:47:44,763 --> 00:47:47,244
But this has nothing to do with the truth.
485
00:49:37,778 --> 00:49:40,297
We want you,
486
00:49:40,497 --> 00:49:43,058
German boys and German girls,
487
00:49:44,818 --> 00:49:47,499
to take in all of this.
488
00:49:52,619 --> 00:49:55,379
The Führer of the German youth
has the floor!
489
00:49:56,219 --> 00:49:57,659
We want to ensure
490
00:49:57,859 --> 00:50:01,580
that this people
will not one day end up enfeebled,
491
00:50:02,020 --> 00:50:04,501
but that it can instead be tough.
492
00:50:04,861 --> 00:50:09,461
And while you are young,
you must harden yourselves for this!
493
00:50:10,820 --> 00:50:14,781
You must learn to endure hardship
494
00:50:15,422 --> 00:50:17,702
without ever
495
00:50:19,102 --> 00:50:20,863
collapsing.
496
00:50:21,303 --> 00:50:24,502
Because whatever we achieve today,
497
00:50:25,383 --> 00:50:29,384
and whatever we do, we will pass away.
498
00:50:30,104 --> 00:50:33,224
But in you, Germany will live on.
499
00:50:33,424 --> 00:50:36,065
And when there is nothing left of us,
500
00:50:36,264 --> 00:50:38,384
you must take the flag
501
00:50:38,584 --> 00:50:42,144
that we raised from nothing,
502
00:50:42,545 --> 00:50:45,106
and hold it in your fists!
503
00:51:27,911 --> 00:51:31,192
This is side 1, Leni Riefenstahl,
504
00:51:31,391 --> 00:51:34,872
November 14, 1976.
505
00:51:34,972 --> 00:51:37,755
CONVERSATION WITH ERNEST A. OSTRO
JOURNALIST
506
00:51:37,951 --> 00:51:42,072
Can you remember
the first time you met Speer in person?
507
00:51:43,633 --> 00:51:47,713
It was one day before the rally,
on a lawn somewhere.
508
00:51:47,953 --> 00:51:50,034
- At the grounds?
- Yes.
509
00:51:50,474 --> 00:51:52,273
It was in 1933.
510
00:51:53,754 --> 00:51:55,154
And...
511
00:51:56,474 --> 00:51:59,674
I said, "It doesn't matter
whether he's a National Socialist,
512
00:51:59,875 --> 00:52:01,715
or a Jew, or whatever,
513
00:52:01,915 --> 00:52:04,796
this man is a great person."
514
00:52:06,476 --> 00:52:09,956
We immediately felt a rapport
515
00:52:10,156 --> 00:52:13,476
when it came to art and our professions.
516
00:52:14,717 --> 00:52:17,317
We were somehow quite similar.
517
00:52:18,317 --> 00:52:21,438
Strong willed, idealistic,
518
00:52:21,638 --> 00:52:25,318
prepared to make sacrifices,
and also uncompromising.
519
00:52:39,079 --> 00:52:43,200
It's so nice to meet you. As the
Reich Architect, you built all this.
520
00:52:43,400 --> 00:52:45,001
What can you tell us?
521
00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:48,201
The Luitpoldarena
will be finished this year.
522
00:52:48,441 --> 00:52:51,322
The Luitpoldhalle is finished too.
523
00:52:51,521 --> 00:52:55,682
But everything you see here is just
the beginning of a huge ensemble
524
00:52:55,881 --> 00:52:58,362
that will be built in the coming years.
525
00:53:00,603 --> 00:53:03,563
The architect Albert Speer was responsible
526
00:53:03,803 --> 00:53:06,882
for the construction planning
of the Nuremberg Rally.
527
00:53:09,443 --> 00:53:15,644
In 1942, Hitler appointed him
Reich Minister of Armaments and Munitions.
528
00:53:18,325 --> 00:53:22,844
Speer organized the mass recruitment
of concentration camp inmates
529
00:53:23,045 --> 00:53:27,045
and forced laborers
for the German armaments industry.
530
00:53:28,926 --> 00:53:30,966
Hundreds of thousands of prisoners
531
00:53:31,166 --> 00:53:34,287
succumbed to the
inhumane working conditions.
532
00:53:38,446 --> 00:53:41,167
Speer is convicted at the Nuremberg Trial
533
00:53:41,367 --> 00:53:44,368
and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
534
00:53:48,849 --> 00:53:51,528
He is released in 1966.
535
00:53:57,329 --> 00:54:00,970
While in prison he begins
writing his memoirs,
536
00:54:01,650 --> 00:54:04,050
which become a worldwide success.
537
00:54:17,572 --> 00:54:19,693
I don't want to hold a press conference.
538
00:54:19,892 --> 00:54:22,572
- Just one question...
- No, no questions whatsoever.
539
00:54:24,013 --> 00:54:27,093
On the day he was released he said,
540
00:54:27,293 --> 00:54:30,413
"Oh, I'm quite fine."
He deliberately downplayed it.
541
00:54:31,534 --> 00:54:34,575
And I thought,
my God, how is that possible?
542
00:54:45,935 --> 00:54:50,297
Albert, you know,
I need your advice about something.
543
00:54:50,496 --> 00:54:54,456
Before I finish my memoirs
I need advice about the contract.
544
00:54:54,656 --> 00:54:56,096
Your memoirs? Yes, sure.
545
00:54:56,297 --> 00:54:59,617
- So I don't make any mistakes.
- Don't you have someone...
546
00:54:59,817 --> 00:55:05,419
- Oh, lots, whoever I like...
- Well, especially in that case...
547
00:55:05,618 --> 00:55:07,497
Yes, well, I mean...
548
00:55:08,498 --> 00:55:12,979
almost all of the big publishers
are basically waiting for it.
549
00:56:13,986 --> 00:56:16,386
I've always fought
as if my life was at stake.
550
00:56:18,868 --> 00:56:20,787
Until I got my way.
551
00:56:25,867 --> 00:56:27,868
The Reich Ministry of Propaganda
552
00:56:28,068 --> 00:56:32,069
grants Riefenstahl a huge budget
for her film "Olympia",
553
00:56:32,269 --> 00:56:37,509
which at the time is the most costly
documentary project in film history.
554
00:56:54,071 --> 00:56:56,711
When you're obsessed with your work,
555
00:56:58,472 --> 00:57:03,072
it radiates a certain kind of energy
that is very persuasive to people.
556
00:57:18,314 --> 00:57:20,794
Back then, a lot was uncharted territory.
557
00:57:21,515 --> 00:57:24,635
I'd already developed some innovations.
558
00:57:25,395 --> 00:57:27,915
I practiced for months in advance
559
00:57:28,476 --> 00:57:33,316
because I knew it was the only way
to transcend the "Wochenschau" newsreels.
560
00:57:34,437 --> 00:57:37,357
It was the only way
to make a really vibrant film.
561
00:57:53,518 --> 00:57:59,440
So I assigned the camera operators
according to their skills and abilities.
562
00:58:02,480 --> 00:58:05,040
They all wanted to outdo each other.
563
00:58:05,959 --> 00:58:09,841
They were very competitive
and wanted to do the best possible work.
564
00:58:13,842 --> 00:58:16,002
The long jump competition
565
00:58:16,202 --> 00:58:19,082
has come down to a battle
between the German Luz Long
566
00:58:19,282 --> 00:58:23,282
and the fastest runner in the world,
Jesse Owens.
567
00:58:43,965 --> 00:58:45,166
8.06 meters!
568
00:58:53,406 --> 00:58:55,526
Asakuma for Japan.
569
00:59:05,847 --> 00:59:09,488
Meter by meter, Germany's starter
Emmy Albus is catching up to
570
00:59:09,688 --> 00:59:12,849
the outside runners
from Holland and Canada...
571
00:59:22,610 --> 00:59:25,250
The deciding race
in the 100-meter sprint.
572
00:59:25,450 --> 00:59:27,490
The world's six fastest runners
573
00:59:27,690 --> 00:59:29,010
are lining up.
574
00:59:29,610 --> 00:59:30,811
Borchmeyer,
575
00:59:31,451 --> 00:59:32,611
Wykoff,
576
00:59:33,052 --> 00:59:34,091
Owens...
577
00:59:34,290 --> 00:59:38,812
USA! USA!
Owens, Owens, Owens!
578
00:59:39,972 --> 00:59:41,452
Why Jesse Owens?
579
00:59:42,092 --> 00:59:44,972
Well, Jesse Owens stood out for me.
580
00:59:45,173 --> 00:59:48,414
It was the first time
I'd ever seen black people.
581
00:59:48,708 --> 00:59:51,492
CONVERSATION WITH RAIMUND LE VISEUR
JOURNALIST
582
00:59:52,773 --> 00:59:55,173
And I was electrified.
583
00:59:55,374 --> 00:59:56,774
Yes. Why?
584
00:59:56,974 --> 00:59:59,294
They were very well built
585
00:59:59,534 --> 01:00:01,975
- and moved like big cats.
- Yes.
586
01:00:02,175 --> 01:00:03,575
Get set...
587
01:00:07,055 --> 01:00:09,255
During the actual competition
588
01:00:09,455 --> 01:00:12,376
I wasn't aware
that I'd focused on him so much.
589
01:00:12,576 --> 01:00:15,297
I only realized during the editing.
590
01:00:23,257 --> 01:00:24,497
Madame...
591
01:00:24,937 --> 01:00:28,978
Madame, I'm very pleased to be
interviewing you for Pathé Journal.
592
01:00:29,178 --> 01:00:30,979
How is the lighting?
593
01:00:31,739 --> 01:00:34,499
- Invited by Tobis Berlin...
- Wait a moment. What?
594
01:00:35,995 --> 01:00:37,532
PARI'S WORLD'S FAIR
595
01:00:37,979 --> 01:00:39,419
Don't talk.
596
01:00:39,619 --> 01:00:43,260
I'm sure your film
will be a great success
597
01:00:43,460 --> 01:00:46,261
because all of Paris
is already talking about it.
598
01:00:48,261 --> 01:00:49,860
Thank you very much.
599
01:00:52,501 --> 01:00:54,021
That's it!
600
01:01:01,822 --> 01:01:03,302
- Okay.
- Okay?
601
01:02:29,873 --> 01:02:31,834
I've seen several of the films
602
01:02:32,033 --> 01:02:33,513
you've made.
603
01:02:33,713 --> 01:02:38,234
I was always fascinated by
the camera techniques you employed.
604
01:02:38,434 --> 01:02:41,115
For the time, it was sensational.
605
01:02:41,314 --> 01:02:43,155
But what you did...
606
01:02:44,195 --> 01:02:47,675
In the Olympia film,
there were these beautiful,
607
01:02:48,395 --> 01:02:51,916
very nobly-figured people
portrayed on screen...
608
01:02:52,756 --> 01:02:55,196
I didn't make them, they were like that.
609
01:02:55,436 --> 01:02:59,477
Yes, and you portrayed them.
But I asked myself the question:
610
01:02:59,677 --> 01:03:01,477
Would you have made a film
611
01:03:01,677 --> 01:03:04,037
- about disabled people?
- No.
612
01:03:04,237 --> 01:03:06,117
- Would it have interested you?
- No.
613
01:03:06,318 --> 01:03:08,598
- Why not?
- That's not my job.
614
01:03:08,798 --> 01:03:10,758
That's what I mean. If you say,
615
01:03:10,958 --> 01:03:13,239
- "I won't make a documentary"...
- Wait!
616
01:03:13,479 --> 01:03:16,520
At the Olympics,
I didn't have a choice.
617
01:03:16,719 --> 01:03:19,318
I had 30 cameramen filming the event.
618
01:03:19,519 --> 01:03:23,800
And that's what's in the film.
Nothing was staged or reconstructed.
619
01:03:23,999 --> 01:03:28,080
I didn't alter the people,
dress them up, or have them pose.
620
01:03:28,281 --> 01:03:32,001
What you see in the film
was shot by 30 different cameramen
621
01:03:32,201 --> 01:03:34,440
from very different positions.
622
01:03:34,641 --> 01:03:37,201
And they filmed reality as it was.
623
01:03:37,402 --> 01:03:40,962
Of course I didn't film,
or the cameramen...
624
01:03:41,162 --> 01:03:44,483
I didn't shoot it myself,
I just told them where to stand.
625
01:03:44,683 --> 01:03:49,163
And of course they didn't film
Jesse Owens wiping his bum or anything.
626
01:03:49,362 --> 01:03:53,643
They preferred to film him
in his concentration, on the start line.
627
01:03:53,844 --> 01:03:58,164
It was the Olympics,
and everyone wants to be the best.
628
01:03:58,364 --> 01:04:01,685
That goes for all Olympics,
not just the German Olympics.
629
01:04:01,885 --> 01:04:05,445
It's the same in Montreal,
in Rome, in Japan, everywhere.
630
01:04:05,644 --> 01:04:08,285
It's very puzzling
why people always accuse me
631
01:04:08,485 --> 01:04:10,846
of embellishing things in that film.
632
01:04:11,086 --> 01:04:15,447
Of course the athletes look much fitter
than a man with a fat belly,
633
01:04:15,647 --> 01:04:17,126
but I can't help it.
634
01:04:17,326 --> 01:04:20,286
I didn't conjure them up or anything.
635
01:04:54,531 --> 01:04:57,892
We needed some images
of people for the prologue.
636
01:04:58,132 --> 01:05:02,132
So we decided to shoot by the sea,
at the Curonian Spit,
637
01:05:02,331 --> 01:05:05,252
because of the sky
and the calm background.
638
01:05:10,373 --> 01:05:13,894
I delegated the conception
of the prologue to Zielke.
639
01:05:14,814 --> 01:05:17,374
He was a brilliant creator of images.
640
01:05:17,573 --> 01:05:23,375
No other, let's say, 'regular',
cinematographer could measure up to him.
641
01:05:23,575 --> 01:05:26,695
Because of his ideas and his methods
642
01:05:26,895 --> 01:05:31,096
you knew he'd do things
you had to keep in check.
643
01:05:38,576 --> 01:05:42,698
I'd seen some of the footage
Zielke had shot, and it was fabulous.
644
01:05:42,897 --> 01:05:46,098
It was very stylized.
He filmed against the light
645
01:05:46,577 --> 01:05:50,498
so the bodies were only half-lit
and looked very beautiful.
646
01:05:59,620 --> 01:06:03,940
We worked together on the somewhat
difficult scene of the transformation.
647
01:06:04,739 --> 01:06:07,940
In a slow-motion shot we see
648
01:06:08,380 --> 01:06:12,701
Myron's discus thrower
gradually starts to awaken,
649
01:06:12,901 --> 01:06:15,381
like a statue coming to life.
650
01:06:38,304 --> 01:06:41,464
Willy Zielke works
to the point of exhaustion.
651
01:06:42,624 --> 01:06:46,024
Not long after the film shoot,
he suffers a breakdown
652
01:06:46,264 --> 01:06:50,785
and is committed to an institution
due to an alleged psychosis.
653
01:06:54,306 --> 01:06:57,986
Riefenstahl is regularly informed
about his condition,
654
01:06:58,187 --> 01:07:00,147
but does not react.
655
01:07:07,107 --> 01:07:11,749
In August 1937, Zielke
is forcibly sterilized in accordance
656
01:07:11,948 --> 01:07:15,549
with the Law for the Prevention
of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring.
657
01:07:28,630 --> 01:07:31,510
"What makes the Greek ideal
of beauty immortal
658
01:07:31,750 --> 01:07:35,831
is the wonderful combination
of the most magnificent physical beauty
659
01:07:36,031 --> 01:07:39,271
with brilliant mind and noblest soul.
660
01:07:39,912 --> 01:07:42,752
This, too,
is in the interest of the nation
661
01:07:42,953 --> 01:07:46,232
that the most beautiful bodies
should find one another
662
01:07:46,432 --> 01:07:49,433
and so help
to give the nation new beauty."
663
01:07:50,552 --> 01:07:53,553
Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf".
664
01:08:04,435 --> 01:08:06,274
Do you remember the premiere?
665
01:08:06,475 --> 01:08:08,875
- Yes, very well.
- Tell me about it.
666
01:08:09,075 --> 01:08:11,795
Shortly before, they told me:
667
01:08:11,996 --> 01:08:14,997
"The film cannot be shown."
668
01:08:15,196 --> 01:08:17,356
The reason they gave me
669
01:08:17,716 --> 01:08:20,757
was the "Anschluss" with Austria.
670
01:08:32,677 --> 01:08:34,838
Many of the countries
whose representatives
671
01:08:35,038 --> 01:08:36,678
raised their arms in the Hitler salute
672
01:08:37,439 --> 01:08:41,959
will fall victim to his
expansionist policies a few years later.
673
01:08:42,759 --> 01:08:44,440
Austria is the first casualty.
674
01:08:44,640 --> 01:08:45,399
AUSTRIA
675
01:08:45,600 --> 01:08:49,800
In March 1938,
German troops march over the border.
676
01:08:50,000 --> 01:08:53,241
Hitler calls it the "Anschluss",
the annexation.
677
01:08:57,761 --> 01:09:02,402
After Riefenstahl's premiere is cancelled,
she follows him to Innsbruck.
678
01:09:03,401 --> 01:09:05,002
It was incredible.
679
01:09:05,602 --> 01:09:09,323
He was still beaming from his success.
680
01:09:14,244 --> 01:09:18,564
I said, "Forgive me, my Führer,
for addressing you here,
681
01:09:19,884 --> 01:09:22,964
but I am so deeply upset
682
01:09:23,165 --> 01:09:26,605
that my premiere has been postponed."
683
01:09:28,326 --> 01:09:30,245
Then I had an idea and I said,
684
01:09:30,445 --> 01:09:33,525
"I'd know of a good date: your birthday."
685
01:09:34,725 --> 01:09:37,246
Then he looked at me and said,
686
01:09:37,446 --> 01:09:40,486
"Yes, but I have
so many parades to attend...
687
01:09:42,047 --> 01:09:44,648
and so many appointments."
688
01:09:44,847 --> 01:09:48,527
And then he said,
"You know what? It's not a bad idea.
689
01:09:49,247 --> 01:09:51,928
Let's do it on my birthday."
690
01:10:08,130 --> 01:10:10,571
A FILM BY LENI RIEFENSTAHL
691
01:10:41,254 --> 01:10:44,175
During her extensive
premiere tour for "Olympia",
692
01:10:44,375 --> 01:10:46,215
she writes to Hitler:
693
01:10:46,414 --> 01:10:51,976
"My Führer, you know how to bring joy
to others better than anyone else.
694
01:10:52,615 --> 01:10:55,736
When I arrived at the Lido
for the Film Biennale,
695
01:10:55,936 --> 01:10:58,337
the first thing I found
were the beautiful roses
696
01:10:58,537 --> 01:11:00,816
and birthday telegram you sent to me.
697
01:11:01,536 --> 01:11:05,177
I could hardly believe that you found time
in your hectic schedule
698
01:11:05,377 --> 01:11:07,537
to think of me for even a moment.
699
01:11:25,379 --> 01:11:27,700
The film's impact as German propaganda
700
01:11:27,940 --> 01:11:30,220
is much greater
than I could have imagined.
701
01:11:30,419 --> 01:11:33,861
And your image, my Führer,
is always applauded,
702
01:11:34,060 --> 01:11:35,981
even in Finland.
703
01:11:37,301 --> 01:11:41,342
I will be traveling to Oslo,
England and America.
704
01:11:47,862 --> 01:11:51,302
I am so happy that you have not
completely forgotten me.
705
01:11:51,503 --> 01:11:53,183
I am always thinking of you.
706
01:11:53,383 --> 01:11:55,983
Yours truly, Leni Riefenstahl."
707
01:12:31,284 --> 01:12:33,219
KONSKIE
POLAND
708
01:12:40,629 --> 01:12:43,350
My life would have been nicer
709
01:12:43,550 --> 01:12:46,830
if I'd died at the peak of my career.
710
01:12:48,990 --> 01:12:51,030
And that was exactly...
711
01:12:51,550 --> 01:12:56,871
up until the outbreak of war
on September 1, 1939.
712
01:12:57,952 --> 01:13:02,231
Up to that point,
my star had been constantly rising.
713
01:13:10,913 --> 01:13:15,473
In the early days of the war, the Reich
Chancellery commissions Riefenstahl
714
01:13:15,673 --> 01:13:18,754
to film the Wehrmacht's
campaign in Poland.
715
01:13:22,314 --> 01:13:24,194
Shortly after her arrival,
716
01:13:24,395 --> 01:13:27,355
she is confronted
with the reality of warfare.
717
01:13:56,399 --> 01:13:59,079
Riefenstahl leaves Końskie.
718
01:13:59,278 --> 01:14:04,840
A few weeks later she asks to be released
from her position as a war correspondent.
719
01:14:06,520 --> 01:14:11,000
Less than a year later
she begins shooting "Lowlands".
720
01:14:11,201 --> 01:14:14,120
It is her last big project for the regime.
721
01:14:14,760 --> 01:14:18,121
A film based on one
of Hitler's favorite operas.
722
01:14:19,641 --> 01:14:24,722
Riefenstahl writes the screenplay,
directs, and plays the leading role.
723
01:14:51,365 --> 01:14:54,406
While on set,
she becomes acquainted with Peter Jacob,
724
01:14:55,166 --> 01:14:59,125
a member of the SA
and a major in the mountain infantry.
725
01:15:00,846 --> 01:15:06,527
According to his Wehrmacht records,
Jacob is a hands-on, committed Nazi.
726
01:15:09,248 --> 01:15:11,768
They marry in 1944
727
01:15:12,568 --> 01:15:15,408
and spend the last year
of the war together.
728
01:15:27,649 --> 01:15:32,890
The last conversation I had with Hitler
was during the war, in 1944.
729
01:15:33,130 --> 01:15:37,771
All I can remember is that
he'd just shaken my husband's hand.
730
01:15:37,971 --> 01:15:39,972
He barely acknowledged him.
731
01:15:42,132 --> 01:15:45,412
He spoke in a kind of monologue
for almost an hour.
732
01:15:48,052 --> 01:15:51,253
He talked about England,
Mussolini, and Italy.
733
01:15:51,973 --> 01:15:55,134
He still firmly believed
that he would win the war.
734
01:15:55,934 --> 01:15:58,453
And that was the last time I saw him.
735
01:16:20,337 --> 01:16:24,497
We heard on the radio
that Hitler had committed...
736
01:16:24,697 --> 01:16:26,698
- that Hitler was dead.
- Yes.
737
01:16:27,857 --> 01:16:30,577
My whole past rose up before me.
738
01:16:30,778 --> 01:16:34,218
All the past impressions
I'd had of that man,
739
01:16:34,418 --> 01:16:38,099
And that was all over now,
I was destroyed.
740
01:16:50,755 --> 01:16:52,868
LENI RIEFENSTAHL IN HER OWN WORDS
741
01:16:53,140 --> 01:16:55,461
Leni Riefenstahl,
742
01:16:55,661 --> 01:16:59,380
you became famous as,
one might say, the focal point
743
01:16:59,581 --> 01:17:03,261
of many things that were going on
in Germany at the time,
744
01:17:03,461 --> 01:17:05,021
Hitler-Germany.
745
01:17:05,902 --> 01:17:07,342
And...
746
01:17:08,182 --> 01:17:10,583
with the end of that period
747
01:17:11,423 --> 01:17:14,862
a long silence.
This silence needs explanation.
748
01:17:15,983 --> 01:17:18,103
Why? What has happened?
749
01:17:19,063 --> 01:17:21,384
You mean the time after the war?
750
01:17:21,584 --> 01:17:22,944
Yes.
751
01:17:26,185 --> 01:17:28,104
We have lost the war.
752
01:17:29,264 --> 01:17:30,625
I think
753
01:17:31,184 --> 01:17:33,105
that is the question, yes?
754
01:17:33,705 --> 01:17:34,866
We have lost the war.
755
01:17:45,003 --> 01:17:48,237
Special Interrogation Series No 3.
756
01:17:51,004 --> 01:17:54,073
Leni Riefenstahl (wife of
Wehrmacht Major Jacob) was
757
01:17:54,096 --> 01:17:57,165
arrested by American troops
in her house in Kitzbuehel
758
01:17:57,188 --> 01:17:59,228
I don't know.
759
01:17:59,428 --> 01:18:01,469
Natural, I can say
something what I have seen
760
01:18:01,949 --> 01:18:03,749
from my point and so.
761
01:18:03,949 --> 01:18:05,149
But we are
762
01:18:05,350 --> 01:18:07,590
not thinking about
763
01:18:07,789 --> 01:18:11,509
what can happen later.
That was really our mistake.
764
01:18:12,750 --> 01:18:15,750
Just the same,
from the point of your enthusiasm,
765
01:18:16,151 --> 01:18:19,511
did you feel that Hitler
had a very strong personal magnetism then?
766
01:18:19,711 --> 01:18:23,872
I mean, natural. Now it is
perhaps dangerous to say it but it was.
767
01:18:24,072 --> 01:18:25,912
I think it's perfectly reasonable to...
768
01:18:27,512 --> 01:18:30,793
It was, it was, natural. Yes.
It was.
769
01:18:31,565 --> 01:18:33,741
One may or may not
consider R.'s statements
770
01:18:33,765 --> 01:18:36,282
reliable. Nevertheless
they give one the impression
771
01:18:36,306 --> 01:18:38,556
of honesty, and dread
which she expresses
772
01:18:38,580 --> 01:18:41,518
about the Regime and
its leaders seem sincere.
773
01:18:44,769 --> 01:18:48,168
During all these years R.
had heard of Kzs now and then,
774
01:18:48,191 --> 01:18:51,590
but had no actual conception
of what they really meant
775
01:18:53,436 --> 01:18:57,035
I have only heard the one name
of the concentration camp Dachau.
776
01:18:57,275 --> 01:19:00,876
And for this I have asked
two or three times and they told me,
777
01:19:01,076 --> 01:19:04,877
in this camp are people,
not Jewish people,
778
01:19:05,117 --> 01:19:09,518
there are people
who are spies or so people.
779
01:19:10,758 --> 01:19:14,238
But when people disappeared,
this interests me.
780
01:19:14,438 --> 01:19:16,838
- What is "disappeared"?
- When people went missing.
781
01:19:17,038 --> 01:19:19,399
How I know this?
How I know this?
782
01:19:19,599 --> 01:19:22,439
My friends, my Jewish friends,
783
01:19:22,639 --> 01:19:24,839
they go away much earlier.
784
01:19:25,040 --> 01:19:28,119
The latest was my doctor.
'38 he was going to America, yes?
785
01:19:28,319 --> 01:19:32,280
And so I don't know one people who goes...
786
01:19:32,800 --> 01:19:33,760
How?
787
01:19:52,322 --> 01:19:55,123
Footage from the shooting of "Lowlands".
788
01:19:59,043 --> 01:20:04,044
Riefenstahl procures 50 Sinti and Roma
from an internment camp
789
01:20:04,244 --> 01:20:06,164
to work as extras.
790
01:20:06,364 --> 01:20:08,285
Many of them are children.
791
01:20:15,885 --> 01:20:19,686
"Siegfried, our little Gypsy."
792
01:20:25,567 --> 01:20:28,927
"Siegfried, a test for Leni's patience."
793
01:20:47,289 --> 01:20:51,931
Over the next few years, most of
these extras are deported to Auschwitz
794
01:20:52,130 --> 01:20:53,770
where they are murdered.
795
01:20:55,331 --> 01:20:57,650
"Deceased"
796
01:20:58,810 --> 01:21:03,131
After the war, Riefenstahl claims
that she has met all the extras
797
01:21:03,332 --> 01:21:05,692
and that they are alive and well.
798
01:21:28,814 --> 01:21:30,494
Well...
799
01:21:31,454 --> 01:21:33,175
Please!
800
01:21:34,215 --> 01:21:36,416
Better you finish.
801
01:21:36,615 --> 01:21:38,336
I am too excited.
802
01:22:00,418 --> 01:22:03,779
BADEN STATE COMMISSARIAT
FOR POLITICAL CLEANSING
803
01:22:03,979 --> 01:22:06,540
FREIBURG TRIBUNAL 2ND DEPARTMENT
804
01:22:09,380 --> 01:22:14,700
RULING IN POLITICAL CLEANSING PROCESS
805
01:22:14,900 --> 01:22:19,541
"It is certain that, in a formal context,
Mrs. Leni Riefenstahl, born 22.08.1902,
806
01:22:19,741 --> 01:22:23,781
was neither a member of the NSDAP
nor any of its organizations
807
01:22:23,982 --> 01:22:28,622
and thus there is no presumption of guilt
in accordance with Directive 38."
808
01:22:28,821 --> 01:22:33,063
"She had no interest whatsoever
in producing propaganda for the NSDAP.
809
01:22:33,262 --> 01:22:37,503
Her acceptance of the two film
commissions (Nuremberg Rally and Olympia)
810
01:22:37,703 --> 01:22:40,703
does not indicate
anything to the contrary."
811
01:22:40,903 --> 01:22:43,624
RULING IN POLITICAL CLEANSING PROCESS
812
01:22:43,823 --> 01:22:46,584
AGAINST RIEFENSTAHL-JACOB, LENI
813
01:22:46,905 --> 01:22:48,945
FOLLOWER / SYMPATHIZER
814
01:22:49,145 --> 01:22:50,745
SANCTIONS IMPOSED:
815
01:22:50,945 --> 01:22:54,106
THE OFFENDER IS BARRED
FROM HOLDING PUBLIC OFFICE
816
01:22:54,546 --> 01:23:00,106
The tribunal's ruling in December 1949
is tantamount to an acquittal.
817
01:23:02,146 --> 01:23:06,827
Three years later, Riefenstahl's past
catches up with her once again.
818
01:23:07,027 --> 01:23:09,746
Poland
819
01:23:25,629 --> 01:23:29,630
"Revue" magazine confronts her
with new accusations.
820
01:23:30,629 --> 01:23:34,270
LENI RIEFENSTAHL IS SILENT ABOUT THIS...
821
01:23:34,470 --> 01:23:38,911
"In reality, Leni Riefenstahl
is one of the few German women
822
01:23:39,112 --> 01:23:42,871
who not only knew about
the terrible crimes
823
01:23:43,071 --> 01:23:46,392
but who actually saw them
with her own eyes."
824
01:23:55,952 --> 01:24:00,313
I don't know if you've heard of the book
titled "The Final Solution",
825
01:24:00,513 --> 01:24:02,634
but it contains a passage
826
01:24:04,034 --> 01:24:07,834
that describes an event
during the Polish Campaign.
827
01:24:08,813 --> 01:24:11,596
CONVERSATION WITH ERNEST A. OSTRO
JOURNALIST
828
01:24:12,754 --> 01:24:14,915
- Come on, drink up.
- Thanks.
829
01:24:15,115 --> 01:24:19,236
- It's my second cup...
- No, be my guest.
830
01:24:19,796 --> 01:24:23,237
Anyway, "On 10 September 1939,
831
01:24:24,196 --> 01:24:29,997
Leni Riefenstahl was in the office
of Generalmajor Langhäuser,
832
01:24:30,197 --> 01:24:32,437
she entered his office.
833
01:24:32,917 --> 01:24:37,199
She witnessed the shooting of 22 Jews..."
834
01:24:37,398 --> 01:24:39,918
- No, that's not true!
- May I continue?
835
01:24:40,118 --> 01:24:43,358
- You see how unheard of that is?
- Wait a moment.
836
01:24:43,559 --> 01:24:48,039
"She said she could not
carry on with her work,
837
01:24:48,240 --> 01:24:50,960
- with her film crew..."
- It's all lies!
838
01:24:51,880 --> 01:24:56,360
- "...when such atrocities were..."
- I never saw any atrocities.
839
01:24:56,560 --> 01:24:58,441
- Happening."
- It's just not true.
840
01:25:10,961 --> 01:25:14,523
The estate contains a letter dated 1952
841
01:25:14,723 --> 01:25:20,124
written by an adjutant to Riefenstahl's
now divorced husband Peter Jacob.
842
01:25:21,684 --> 01:25:25,243
The adjutant
describes details of the massacre:
843
01:25:27,204 --> 01:25:30,365
"According to a report
submitted to the 10th Army,
844
01:25:30,565 --> 01:25:32,885
your wife is alleged to have said
845
01:25:33,085 --> 01:25:37,566
(probably referring to a scene that was
to be filmed on the market place):
846
01:25:38,246 --> 01:25:41,126
'But the Jews have to be
removed from there.'
847
01:25:42,646 --> 01:25:45,286
It's what anyone else would have said too,
848
01:25:45,487 --> 01:25:48,407
because having a bunch of people
working in a ditch,
849
01:25:48,607 --> 01:25:51,968
surrounded by more or less
disciplined German soldiers,
850
01:25:52,168 --> 01:25:54,848
isn't a good background for filming.
851
01:26:00,408 --> 01:26:03,089
A lance corporal passed on these comments
852
01:26:03,289 --> 01:26:06,089
and it ended up sounding like this:
853
01:26:06,289 --> 01:26:08,290
'Get rid of the Jews!'
854
01:26:09,689 --> 01:26:13,090
Prompted by this remark
and a few persuasive kicks,
855
01:26:13,290 --> 01:26:15,650
some Poles attempted to flee
856
01:26:16,770 --> 01:26:19,131
and then shots were fired."
857
01:26:25,171 --> 01:26:26,892
If this statement is true,
858
01:26:27,091 --> 01:26:32,012
Riefenstahl's set direction played a role
in the death of the Jews in Końskie.
859
01:26:38,973 --> 01:26:42,653
Mrs. Riefenstahl, we should decide
if you want to take a different stand
860
01:26:42,854 --> 01:26:46,654
so you don't feel
that you're being judged here.
861
01:26:46,854 --> 01:26:49,335
I'm here,
and I'll do what's demanded of me.
862
01:26:49,535 --> 01:26:51,935
- And what is that?
- Whatever you like.
863
01:26:52,135 --> 01:26:56,295
I'll answer, just ask me.
If I shouldn't talk, then I won't.
864
01:26:56,495 --> 01:27:00,736
As you like.
I'm not really free to choose.
865
01:27:01,136 --> 01:27:04,016
We, Mrs. Kretschmar,
Mr. Kiesewetter, and others,
866
01:27:04,337 --> 01:27:08,096
can't always share the opinions
that you represent.
867
01:27:08,297 --> 01:27:11,497
- You must understand that.
- You don't know my opinions!
868
01:27:11,697 --> 01:27:14,377
- I haven't even been asked.
- May I ask you now?
869
01:27:14,937 --> 01:27:17,258
I can only say this:
870
01:27:17,458 --> 01:27:20,979
The people
who lived during the Third Reich,
871
01:27:21,178 --> 01:27:24,698
the people who endured so much
872
01:27:24,898 --> 01:27:28,059
and had the opportunity
to learn about those things...
873
01:27:28,259 --> 01:27:33,340
that I understand that they react
with bitterness to those times.
874
01:27:33,580 --> 01:27:36,861
But there were many people,
including myself,
875
01:27:37,061 --> 01:27:39,780
who only saw it from the positive side.
876
01:27:39,981 --> 01:27:42,101
And for whom, only when it became known,
877
01:27:42,300 --> 01:27:44,621
when I was in prison
and the war was over
878
01:27:44,821 --> 01:27:47,382
and I'd heard about these terrible crimes,
879
01:27:47,581 --> 01:27:50,702
a whole world fell apart.
880
01:27:51,023 --> 01:27:54,902
We experienced such
a shock that I, and many others,
881
01:27:55,103 --> 01:27:59,303
will never be able to heal and recover.
882
01:27:59,503 --> 01:28:03,104
That's why I have always
avoided these talk shows.
883
01:28:03,303 --> 01:28:07,504
This is the first one
I've agreed to do in many years
884
01:28:07,704 --> 01:28:11,704
because those wounds
have still not healed.
885
01:28:26,226 --> 01:28:28,746
- Madame, may I say something to you?
- Yes.
886
01:28:28,947 --> 01:28:32,068
Right until the end of the war,
I also knew nothing
887
01:28:32,267 --> 01:28:34,908
about the gassings in Auschwitz.
888
01:28:35,148 --> 01:28:38,428
Yes, but that's historically
well established by now.
889
01:28:38,628 --> 01:28:42,708
But today, Hitler is portrayed as one of
the worst political criminals in history.
890
01:28:42,908 --> 01:28:47,269
Everyone knows that, of course.
But no one asked me about that.
891
01:28:47,469 --> 01:28:49,869
Wait, no one asked me about that.
892
01:28:53,589 --> 01:28:56,230
I also knew Hitler, Mrs. Riefenstahl.
893
01:28:56,430 --> 01:28:59,631
- I had dinner with him seven times.
- Yes.
894
01:29:00,231 --> 01:29:03,392
Well, I did condemn him
895
01:29:03,591 --> 01:29:06,432
because of the gassings he did.
896
01:29:06,952 --> 01:29:08,912
You knew about that before?
897
01:29:09,111 --> 01:29:12,432
And how did you find out
that he was doing these gassings?
898
01:29:12,632 --> 01:29:15,672
- Oh, I just knew.
- Who told you?
899
01:29:16,233 --> 01:29:20,514
The Reich Chamber of Film
received a secret correspondence
900
01:29:20,713 --> 01:29:22,953
- every two weeks.
- Yes.
901
01:29:23,513 --> 01:29:28,194
My husband would bring
the letters home overnight.
902
01:29:28,394 --> 01:29:30,114
That's where I read it.
903
01:29:30,314 --> 01:29:34,075
Can you remember
when you first had written proof
904
01:29:34,275 --> 01:29:36,836
that the gas ovens had been built?
905
01:29:37,034 --> 01:29:40,995
That's historically important,
but no one has figured it out yet.
906
01:29:41,276 --> 01:29:44,516
You'd be the only person
in the world who had such proof.
907
01:29:44,716 --> 01:29:46,957
It would be fabulous
908
01:29:47,157 --> 01:29:49,717
if you had such documents
909
01:29:49,917 --> 01:29:54,237
containing the dates, times,
and details of how people were burned.
910
01:29:54,437 --> 01:29:57,038
- It's outrageous.
- Gassed, yes.
911
01:29:57,238 --> 01:30:01,518
That's what I meant: Gassed,
or burned, or whatever happened.
912
01:30:16,080 --> 01:30:17,400
The sound running.
913
01:30:18,680 --> 01:30:20,081
Scene one, take two.
914
01:30:21,601 --> 01:30:24,001
Rostock's Lichtenhagen district
915
01:30:24,200 --> 01:30:28,002
has seen four days
of widespread anti-immigrant rioting.
916
01:30:28,202 --> 01:30:31,682
The residents applaud.
Police and politicians look away.
917
01:30:32,282 --> 01:30:33,802
Foreigners out!
918
01:30:39,963 --> 01:30:42,206
How do you feel
when you see such images today?
919
01:30:42,230 --> 01:30:44,612
THE WONDERFUL, HORRIBLE LIFE OF
LENI RIEFENSTAHL UNRELEASED FOOTAGE
920
01:30:44,636 --> 01:30:47,757
Terrible. I think it's terrible.
921
01:30:49,125 --> 01:30:54,965
How can people act like that
against women and innocent children?
922
01:30:56,325 --> 01:30:58,685
Doesn't it stir up memories?
923
01:30:59,485 --> 01:31:02,286
We've seen images like this
in Germany before.
924
01:31:02,486 --> 01:31:05,606
I never witnessed that in Germany.
It never happened.
925
01:31:06,486 --> 01:31:09,287
Terrible things happened
in Germany after the war,
926
01:31:09,486 --> 01:31:12,447
but not that.
I never saw anything like that.
927
01:31:13,527 --> 01:31:14,727
Do you think...
928
01:31:14,928 --> 01:31:19,129
Listen, I don't want to get into
political things like that.
929
01:31:19,328 --> 01:31:23,048
Because then people will say...
I don't want to comment on that.
930
01:31:23,248 --> 01:31:26,529
- But you can just say...
- But then I'll be a neo-Nazi.
931
01:31:26,728 --> 01:31:31,010
If I say that, I'll be labeled
a neo-Nazi again. That's how it is.
932
01:31:31,210 --> 01:31:33,330
That's why you can't speak the truth!
933
01:31:33,530 --> 01:31:35,770
Because if you do they execute you!
934
01:31:35,970 --> 01:31:40,090
They execute you if you speak the truth!
It's all lies!
935
01:31:46,891 --> 01:31:48,972
LENI RIEFENSTAHL TO SUE
936
01:31:49,652 --> 01:31:53,892
"I NEVER HAD ANYONE GASSED!"
937
01:31:55,052 --> 01:31:58,573
It's really terrible,
all the lies and deception.
938
01:31:58,773 --> 01:32:00,933
All the stuff they make up...
939
01:32:02,934 --> 01:32:05,854
I have never said anything antisemitic,
940
01:32:06,054 --> 01:32:09,654
nor have I ever said
anything against Jews. Never!
941
01:32:11,575 --> 01:32:15,095
I just told you that
I was never in that camp!
942
01:32:15,295 --> 01:32:18,935
All I can do is tell you, God damn it!
943
01:32:19,576 --> 01:32:21,695
- Rolling.
- Action!
944
01:32:26,976 --> 01:32:29,897
There are over 50
court cases documented here.
945
01:32:30,417 --> 01:32:35,298
These are the facts.
In most cases it was slander.
946
01:32:35,498 --> 01:32:37,297
They say you used Gypsies
947
01:32:37,498 --> 01:32:40,138
from a concentration camp
as extras in "Lowlands".
948
01:32:40,338 --> 01:32:43,379
That's the most evil lie
that was circulated.
949
01:32:43,578 --> 01:32:45,619
My blood boils when I hear that.
950
01:32:51,859 --> 01:32:53,299
Just a moment!
951
01:32:54,259 --> 01:32:56,660
I'm suing for defamation.
952
01:32:57,460 --> 01:33:00,460
If you were defamed
you might sue as well.
953
01:33:10,862 --> 01:33:14,662
I wouldn't say Gypsies have to lie,
but you have to decide
954
01:33:14,862 --> 01:33:18,904
who's more likely to commit perjury,
me or the Gypsies.
955
01:33:22,823 --> 01:33:27,024
This whole affair
has put me under such strain
956
01:33:27,223 --> 01:33:31,465
that I am leaving Germany for
an extended period, for several months.
957
01:33:31,664 --> 01:33:35,305
I will probably
only return to Germany for visits.
958
01:33:55,907 --> 01:33:58,148
In 1962 to '63,
959
01:33:58,348 --> 01:34:01,749
Riefenstahl makes
her first expedition to Sudan.
960
01:34:02,829 --> 01:34:05,069
I'll just describe it as it is -
961
01:34:05,748 --> 01:34:09,429
Natu is playing various melodies
on the guitar.
962
01:34:22,590 --> 01:34:26,311
Over the years, she frequently returns
to the Nuba people,
963
01:34:26,511 --> 01:34:29,151
often for months at a time.
964
01:34:33,793 --> 01:34:37,352
In Sudan, nobody asks questions
about her past.
965
01:34:45,353 --> 01:34:47,715
A report for the Sunday Times.
966
01:34:49,194 --> 01:34:55,155
The headline: "Why did I live
with an African tribe for months
967
01:34:55,355 --> 01:34:57,315
and take these photos?"
968
01:35:01,516 --> 01:35:04,915
When I think about this question,
969
01:35:05,356 --> 01:35:06,956
I'd have to say
970
01:35:07,956 --> 01:35:10,556
that this work is the logical development
971
01:35:10,757 --> 01:35:13,237
of my entire professional career.
972
01:35:14,358 --> 01:35:17,278
In all the films I've made so far,
973
01:35:17,478 --> 01:35:21,798
I was always captivated
by the beauty of the subject.
974
01:35:24,518 --> 01:35:26,719
In particular the harmony
975
01:35:26,919 --> 01:35:32,560
that radiates when outer beauty
is combined with inner beauty.
976
01:35:47,202 --> 01:35:49,162
That was in 1968/69,
977
01:35:49,362 --> 01:35:51,881
when Horst joined me for the first time...
978
01:35:52,602 --> 01:35:56,003
and we had a car,
979
01:35:57,002 --> 01:35:59,203
that made it much easier.
980
01:36:08,643 --> 01:36:10,444
That's where I slept.
981
01:36:10,644 --> 01:36:14,685
I lived there for months, and there,
982
01:36:14,885 --> 01:36:18,206
it may sound incredible,
but I was very happy there.
983
01:36:19,684 --> 01:36:22,005
That's me with the children and women.
984
01:36:22,205 --> 01:36:25,966
The first contact I made
was through the children.
985
01:36:28,047 --> 01:36:31,007
I put on a small children's
wrestling match.
986
01:36:36,047 --> 01:36:40,447
- Why does it say "Sport Schuster"?
- Because Schuster sponsored me.
987
01:36:40,648 --> 01:36:44,129
They gave me
two tents and some other things.
988
01:36:51,809 --> 01:36:54,489
Riefenstahl on her fourth expedition.
989
01:36:55,329 --> 01:37:00,171
She relies on the support of numerous
German companies to finance the trip.
990
01:37:01,011 --> 01:37:04,730
In return, she grants them
free use of the images.
991
01:37:09,851 --> 01:37:12,612
That was two years after my first visit.
992
01:37:12,812 --> 01:37:16,812
They carried me on their shoulders
and shouted "Leni, Leni, Leni!"
993
01:37:17,013 --> 01:37:21,693
Their children were named after me,
and a mountain too: "Monte Leni".
994
01:37:21,933 --> 01:37:24,694
I wish I could have stayed forever.
995
01:40:00,753 --> 01:40:04,873
THE NUBA
996
01:40:06,673 --> 01:40:10,874
THE PEOPLE OF KAU
997
01:40:34,236 --> 01:40:38,398
What was it that made you want to go
look for this tribe and make this book?
998
01:40:38,597 --> 01:40:41,398
You mentioned you were worried about
civilization coming to these tribes
999
01:40:41,598 --> 01:40:45,679
but do you not help to bring civilization
to them by photographing them?
1000
01:40:45,919 --> 01:40:50,959
No and I have make the most
of these photos with long lenses.
1001
01:40:51,158 --> 01:40:53,679
I was very far from them.
1002
01:40:53,880 --> 01:40:56,559
That had not destroy their life.
1003
01:40:56,760 --> 01:41:00,681
But the civilization must come, natural.
But slowly.
1004
01:41:01,041 --> 01:41:02,880
Very slowly.
1005
01:41:03,080 --> 01:41:08,441
I have seen that especially money
gives this people not luck.
1006
01:41:09,122 --> 01:41:11,162
Let's talk about your photographs.
1007
01:41:11,362 --> 01:41:15,243
You say in your book that physical health
and beauty are the Nuba ideal.
1008
01:41:15,442 --> 01:41:18,922
There was a period when this
was the ideal in Germany also.
1009
01:41:19,122 --> 01:41:24,043
I think it was also an ideal in Rome
and in Greece and in many countries.
1010
01:41:24,243 --> 01:41:26,644
Not only in Germany.
1011
01:41:26,844 --> 01:41:30,404
With these photographs you immortalize
this beauty, health and strength.
1012
01:41:30,605 --> 01:41:32,724
People will draw parallels
1013
01:41:32,923 --> 01:41:36,884
with that film which became
so controversial, "Triumph of the Will",
1014
01:41:37,085 --> 01:41:41,646
which also, many people say, was a glori-
fication of healthy, handsome German men.
1015
01:41:41,845 --> 01:41:46,166
If they write about you things
what is not true and what is very bad
1016
01:41:46,366 --> 01:41:48,926
then you will have the same thing.
1017
01:41:49,686 --> 01:41:52,407
Natural I have suffered horrible
about this.
1018
01:41:52,606 --> 01:41:56,207
Because through these rumors
and these difficulties
1019
01:41:56,408 --> 01:41:59,448
it was not possible more to work for me.
1020
01:42:03,448 --> 01:42:05,808
It's a fantastic book.
1021
01:42:06,849 --> 01:42:09,609
I'll show you
some of my favorite head shots.
1022
01:42:09,809 --> 01:42:11,249
That would be nice.
1023
01:42:11,449 --> 01:42:14,370
For example, this one is very beautiful.
1024
01:42:16,210 --> 01:42:18,250
Let's see how close I can get.
1025
01:42:19,530 --> 01:42:21,370
That's interesting.
1026
01:42:24,451 --> 01:42:25,491
So...
1027
01:42:27,691 --> 01:42:30,171
I'll put this here carefully...
1028
01:42:31,292 --> 01:42:33,012
Somewhere down here.
1029
01:42:34,051 --> 01:42:36,292
There are no birds here.
1030
01:42:37,012 --> 01:42:40,252
But they...
How much should I put in, Horst?
1031
01:42:40,893 --> 01:42:42,293
All of it?
1032
01:42:44,253 --> 01:42:46,933
- Go for a walk, shall we?
- Fine.
1033
01:42:47,533 --> 01:42:48,813
Come on.
1034
01:42:50,453 --> 01:42:51,854
Go inside.
1035
01:43:02,935 --> 01:43:05,015
- Albert, how lovely!
- Yes, hello!
1036
01:43:05,296 --> 01:43:07,496
What about your house in the Allgäu?
1037
01:43:07,696 --> 01:43:10,777
- We're going there now.
- Is it finished now?
1038
01:43:10,976 --> 01:43:12,977
- Yes!
- Great.
1039
01:43:13,177 --> 01:43:16,817
So tell me, when are you there
in case I want to call you?
1040
01:43:17,017 --> 01:43:21,858
I'll give you the number. I only give it
to my closest, most intimate friends.
1041
01:43:22,058 --> 01:43:24,258
- That includes you.
- Oh, thank you.
1042
01:43:24,458 --> 01:43:29,659
Albert, I wanted to ask you
how much you get paid.
1043
01:43:29,859 --> 01:43:31,139
It depends.
1044
01:43:31,340 --> 01:43:34,899
Usually, when I go to the BBC
for an hour or so,
1045
01:43:35,099 --> 01:43:37,019
they pay a few hundred marks.
1046
01:43:37,220 --> 01:43:38,700
Oh, how about that!
1047
01:43:38,900 --> 01:43:43,461
Well, I don't do any smaller things
for less than 5,000 marks.
1048
01:43:44,061 --> 01:43:48,861
And Canada already
paid 10,000 ten years ago.
1049
01:44:27,627 --> 01:44:31,066
Ella, isn't it like in Germany,
that when programs are broadcast
1050
01:44:31,266 --> 01:44:33,627
the TV guides do the advertising?
1051
01:44:33,826 --> 01:44:36,667
Yes, and it says what I told Leni:
1052
01:44:37,147 --> 01:44:39,708
"The Nazi-era filmmaker".
1053
01:44:58,270 --> 01:44:59,710
And I'm in danger,
1054
01:44:59,911 --> 01:45:02,590
because there are so many
anti-Nazis in Switzerland
1055
01:45:02,790 --> 01:45:07,471
that when I go there for a show and
I'm introduced as a Nazi whatever,
1056
01:45:07,671 --> 01:45:09,872
- you can imagine what it's like.
- Yes.
1057
01:45:14,152 --> 01:45:16,592
- Hello?
- This is Swiss TV in Geneva.
1058
01:45:16,792 --> 01:45:18,752
- One moment, please.
- Thank you.
1059
01:45:21,072 --> 01:45:22,992
Claude Torracinta.
1060
01:45:24,673 --> 01:45:26,754
You know, Mr. Claude,
1061
01:45:26,953 --> 01:45:30,515
you don't realize how often
they've put me through the mangle.
1062
01:45:30,713 --> 01:45:35,795
Every time I go on television
they claim that I share the blame
1063
01:45:35,994 --> 01:45:39,075
for all the atrocities,
for the concentration camps,
1064
01:45:39,275 --> 01:45:42,596
all the crimes...
It always happens.
1065
01:45:42,795 --> 01:45:46,555
If someone ever used
the word "Holocaust",
1066
01:45:46,755 --> 01:45:49,236
- I would end the interview.
- Yes.
1067
01:45:49,436 --> 01:45:52,717
Mrs. Riefenstahl,
it's just archive material.
1068
01:45:52,917 --> 01:45:55,557
- It's such a...
- What I'd like to say...
1069
01:45:55,757 --> 01:45:59,237
I am not responsible for what happened!
1070
01:45:59,438 --> 01:46:01,157
Why do you want to show that?
1071
01:46:08,079 --> 01:46:12,520
TONIGHT
LENI RIEFENSTAHL
1072
01:46:14,560 --> 01:46:15,919
Good evening.
1073
01:46:16,119 --> 01:46:18,439
For the first time
in the history of "Destins",
1074
01:46:18,640 --> 01:46:20,720
our invited guest is absent.
1075
01:46:22,481 --> 01:46:26,321
Today, Mrs. Riefenstahl
demanded that we cut
1076
01:46:26,521 --> 01:46:28,641
certain political scenes,
1077
01:46:29,082 --> 01:46:32,041
especially those about
the fate of the Jews.
1078
01:46:43,923 --> 01:46:47,643
When she demanded
that we cut certain scenes,
1079
01:46:47,843 --> 01:46:52,844
we assured her
that we would not edit the show
1080
01:46:53,044 --> 01:46:55,204
by cutting political scenes,
1081
01:46:55,404 --> 01:46:59,525
especially those
concerning the Jews in Germany.
1082
01:46:59,725 --> 01:47:01,845
Mrs. Riefenstahl then decided
1083
01:47:02,045 --> 01:47:04,925
not to participate
in our studio interview
1084
01:47:05,125 --> 01:47:08,286
where she would have been free
to share
1085
01:47:08,766 --> 01:47:11,087
her convictions with the audience
1086
01:47:11,287 --> 01:47:13,367
by responding to my questions.
1087
01:47:14,647 --> 01:47:17,327
Thank you for watching. Good night.
1088
01:47:34,969 --> 01:47:38,249
Your assistant
already put two cushions on the chair.
1089
01:47:39,450 --> 01:47:41,410
- There.
- Everything's nicely prepared.
1090
01:47:41,610 --> 01:47:43,491
- Exactly.
- Yes.
1091
01:47:43,971 --> 01:47:45,490
I'll hold the chair.
1092
01:47:45,690 --> 01:47:48,090
Hold tight so you land properly.
1093
01:47:48,291 --> 01:47:50,211
- I have to...
- There!
1094
01:47:50,504 --> 01:47:52,737
Tell us how you want it
so you're comfy, okay?
1095
01:47:52,793 --> 01:47:55,274
SPEER AND HITLER: THE DEVIL'S
ARCHITECT UNRELEASED FOOTAGE
1096
01:47:55,297 --> 01:47:56,669
- Is that okay?
- I have to... Where is the camera?
1097
01:47:56,693 --> 01:47:58,813
The camera is here, look.
1098
01:47:59,213 --> 01:48:01,692
- We're talking...
- It's where my hand is.
1099
01:48:01,892 --> 01:48:04,253
- You talk towards me.
- Towards you?
1100
01:48:04,453 --> 01:48:08,253
Yes, we'll be talking
and we'll open the frame to the right.
1101
01:48:09,453 --> 01:48:12,415
Okay, let's see if I can see anything.
1102
01:48:12,854 --> 01:48:14,415
I have to...
1103
01:48:14,934 --> 01:48:19,054
Put them away for a moment.
I have to let my eyes adjust.
1104
01:48:20,215 --> 01:48:21,535
I can see it...
1105
01:48:21,735 --> 01:48:25,576
This wrinkle here has to go.
It should be hidden.
1106
01:48:25,775 --> 01:48:28,416
Okay, let's put the box
on the other side.
1107
01:48:28,617 --> 01:48:30,616
So the wrinkles are hidden.
1108
01:48:30,815 --> 01:48:33,816
I'll just go past.
Let's move the cable over here.
1109
01:48:34,017 --> 01:48:36,657
We'll do it differently, it's no problem.
1110
01:48:37,697 --> 01:48:40,338
- As long as it looks good.
- Exactly.
1111
01:48:41,178 --> 01:48:43,138
- Careful...
- Yes, exactly.
1112
01:48:45,258 --> 01:48:47,538
- I'll bring the...
- It's okay.
1113
01:48:50,978 --> 01:48:53,819
It would be good
if the light came from there.
1114
01:48:54,139 --> 01:48:55,860
Sure, we can do that.
1115
01:48:59,379 --> 01:49:03,020
Now the light is on the camera axis,
Mrs. Riefenstahl.
1116
01:49:03,340 --> 01:49:05,101
Let me take that from you.
1117
01:49:07,701 --> 01:49:08,981
That's about right.
1118
01:49:13,142 --> 01:49:15,581
You can turn it.
Just let it run.
1119
01:49:16,181 --> 01:49:18,742
You can't block it out any more, can you?
1120
01:49:18,942 --> 01:49:20,782
The overhead lighting?
1121
01:49:24,543 --> 01:49:27,144
The overhead lighting can't be...
1122
01:50:01,507 --> 01:50:06,468
Decades after filming "The Blue Light",
Riefenstahl returns to the waterfall.
1123
01:50:10,869 --> 01:50:15,228
This is the last footage Horst Kettner
shoots with her in the mountains.
1124
01:50:20,230 --> 01:50:23,070
It shows how she would like
to be remembered.
1125
01:50:28,471 --> 01:50:31,031
And what she wants to be forgotten.
1126
01:50:46,792 --> 01:50:50,554
- Riefenstahl speaking.
- I'll say it to you straight:
1127
01:50:50,794 --> 01:50:55,594
When I see all the fuss nowadays,
I ask myself:
1128
01:50:55,794 --> 01:50:57,955
Who is actually honest?
1129
01:50:58,155 --> 01:51:02,995
And who was ever more honest
than Leni Riefenstahl?
1130
01:51:03,195 --> 01:51:05,915
That little woman who portrayed
1131
01:51:06,115 --> 01:51:10,236
the most beautiful human beings
and not the cripples!
1132
01:51:10,436 --> 01:51:14,796
She was condemned,
judged, and persecuted!
1133
01:51:15,797 --> 01:51:19,597
That shows the rotten state
of this bloody country,
1134
01:51:19,797 --> 01:51:21,957
and that's why I condemn it!
1135
01:51:28,838 --> 01:51:32,078
We need to have a certain detachment
1136
01:51:32,278 --> 01:51:35,759
- when it comes to today's chaotic times.
- Yes.
1137
01:51:35,960 --> 01:51:40,680
And one has to understand
that this chaos was inevitable.
1138
01:51:40,880 --> 01:51:45,080
It won't take all that long,
but it will take one or two generations.
1139
01:51:45,280 --> 01:51:47,961
- Yes.
- And then we will return to morality,
1140
01:51:48,161 --> 01:51:50,361
decency, and virtue.
1141
01:51:50,561 --> 01:51:53,922
Yes, the German people
are predestined for that.