12. Leni Riefenstahl created the images of the Aryan superman and woman for Adolf Hitler
German director Fritz Lang found some of his work banned by Nazi propagandists, but was nonetheless asked by Joseph Goebbels to produce films which helped spread the beliefs of the Nazi party. Lang chose instead to flee Nazi Germany. The Nazis turned instead to Leni Riefenstahl, who directed films which earned her the professional approbation of fellow filmmakers for her technical skill, Triumph of the Will, and Olympia. Adolf Hitler was closely involved with Riefenstahl both in regard to the content of her films and as a personal friend, according to German documents and the recollection of friends at the time. As time has increased the distance from the depredations of the Nazis, numerous attempts have been made to rehabilitate Riefenstahl’s reputation, but the evidence from the time, including her films and correspondence, indicates that she was an unrepentant supporter of Hitler and his Nazi ideals, including the desirability of removing the Jews from a rebuilt Germany.
Riefenstahl later attempted to deny that her work, including Triumph of the Will, was intended to champion the Nazi agenda, and in interviews claimed to have been “disgusted” by the way Goebbels and the propaganda ministry distorted her work. Riefenstahl created documentaries which besides supporting the Hitler regime changed the way such films were created, adding a dramatic quality to what was described as straightforward reporting, with the result being almost shamelessly partisan, rather than balanced. As with many former Nazis, she supported Hitler until his death, and continued to justify her work for decades after, though claiming that it was made to support the German people rather than the Nazi government, which nonetheless paid for much of her work. Triumph of the Will is still viewed as a masterpiece of documentary propaganda, which changed the genre forever.