Leni Riefenstahl
Leni Riefenstahl was a German dancer, actor and filmmaker between the 1920s and 1940s. She became well known for her career as a filmmaker, which had flourished during the years of the Nazi regime. It was during these years that she made her famous films Olympia (1938) and triumph of the will (1935).
As a child, leni loved dancing, gymnastics and theatre and above all she dreamed of dancing as a child on stage, her mother was supportive of her desires, but her father was unsympathetic. In 1918 when she was 16 years old she secretly enrolled herself into the Grimm-Reiter dance school in berlin where she wanted to do dance lessons in ballet. When her father had found out that she enrolled herself in dancing lessons he was furious and immediately started to enquire about boarding schools. When her schooling was completed she returned home and worked for her father as a secretary. She then asked her dad if she could take dance lessons, and he approved. Later on, for reasons unknown to leni, he lost his temper and reconsidered. With a little persuasion from her mother he finally gave her permission to learn to dance.
Dancing had become an obsession, and started to take a toll on leni’s body. Whilst waiting for the train to her doctor’s appointment, she happened to glance at an advertisement for the film Berg Des Schicksals (mountain of destiny) directed by Doctor Arnold Fanck, who was to become an important persona in her life within filmmaking. Riefenstahl was transfixed and made her way to the nearest cinema where the movie was showing. It was the course of action that was to dramatically change her life. Riefenstahl was hugely impressed with Franck’s mountain of destiny and decided to visit the dolomites herself. While there, she met fanck and the lead actor, who were taken aback by her abilities and wrote a script for her to be called the holy mountain. The film had encountered all difficulties during the production such as injuries to Riefenstahl herself and
As a child, leni loved dancing, gymnastics and theatre and above all she dreamed of dancing as a child on stage, her mother was supportive of her desires, but her father was unsympathetic. In 1918 when she was 16 years old she secretly enrolled herself into the Grimm-Reiter dance school in berlin where she wanted to do dance lessons in ballet. When her father had found out that she enrolled herself in dancing lessons he was furious and immediately started to enquire about boarding schools. When her schooling was completed she returned home and worked for her father as a secretary. She then asked her dad if she could take dance lessons, and he approved. Later on, for reasons unknown to leni, he lost his temper and reconsidered. With a little persuasion from her mother he finally gave her permission to learn to dance.
Dancing had become an obsession, and started to take a toll on leni’s body. Whilst waiting for the train to her doctor’s appointment, she happened to glance at an advertisement for the film Berg Des Schicksals (mountain of destiny) directed by Doctor Arnold Fanck, who was to become an important persona in her life within filmmaking. Riefenstahl was transfixed and made her way to the nearest cinema where the movie was showing. It was the course of action that was to dramatically change her life. Riefenstahl was hugely impressed with Franck’s mountain of destiny and decided to visit the dolomites herself. While there, she met fanck and the lead actor, who were taken aback by her abilities and wrote a script for her to be called the holy mountain. The film had encountered all difficulties during the production such as injuries to Riefenstahl herself and