Film Screening: Riefenstahl

When:
Sunday, Mar 16, 2025 11:00a -
1:00p

Where:
Coolidge Corner Theatre
290 Harvard St
Brookline, MA 02446

EventScheduled OfflineEventAttendanceMode

Admission:
$7

Hosted by:
...
goethe_institut_boston Goethe-Institut Boston

Categories:
Movies

Event website:
https://www.goethe.de/ins/us/en/sta/bos/ver.cfm?event_id=26362035

New Films from Germany


Filmmaker and Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl is one of the most contentious figures of the 20th century. Her films Triumph of the Will (1935) and Olympia (1938) defined fascist aesthetics: perfectly staged body worship, and the celebration of all that is “superior” and victorious, simultaneously projecting contempt for the “imperfect” and “weak.” 

 

Riefenstahl–who first broke into the German film industry as an actress–was part of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels’ inner circle and her films were used in direct service of the Nazis’ genocidal regime. Yet, after the war, she spent decades 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”? Director Andres Veiel confronts this superius claim, peeling back the layers of denial and manipulation that Riefenstahl carefully constructed around her legacy through the use of never-before-seen documents from Riefenstahl’s estate, including 700 boxes of her personal archives, private films, photos, recordings and letters.

 

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 experienced a renaissance, gaining esteem for its masterful technical skill.

 

Today, Riefenstahl’s aesthetics are more present than ever. 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.


New England Premiere 


Winner – Venice Film Festival, Cinema & Arts Award


Directed by Andres Veiel

Germany 2025

DCP, 115min.

German with English subtitles

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03/16/2025 11:00:00 03/16/2025 13:00:00 America/New_York Film Screening: Riefenstahl <p><strong>New Films from Germany</strong></p><p><br></p><p>Filmmaker and Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl is one of the most contentious figures of the 20th century. Her films&nbsp;Triumph of th...

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