LENI RIEFENSTAHL (1902- 2003) first gained fame as a dancer, then film actress in 1920's Germany.  She wrote, directed, edited, and starred in THE BLUE LIGHT  (1932; her first directorial effort), which secured her reputation as a powerful new voice in European cinema.

Impressed by her filmmaking skills, she was hand-picked by Adolf Hitler to make a documentary of the 1934 National Socialist rally at Nuremberg.  The result was the now notorious TRIUMPH OF THE WILL (1936).  Although its intent was as a "straight" documentary, its striking images of power, strength, and pride were undeniable, and the film was used by the National Socialist Party as one of its most effective propaganda films.  The film subsequently helped shape - and sell - the image of nazism to the world.

Her next film was OLYMPIA (1938), a four-hour, largely apolitical masterpiece documenting the 1936 Summer Olympiad in Berlin.  OLYMPIA was awarded the very first Palme D'Or ever given at Cannes and set the standard for sports cinematography and photography as we know it today. One cannot watch a televised sports event - from the Olympics to the NFL - without seeing camera and editing techniques that were first introduced by Riefenstahl.

She was cleared by two post-war denazification trials of any criminal wrongdoing, but her close association with the Reich prevented her from ever being able to make another film.  Instead, she turned her passion to still photography, and her stunning photographs of the Nuba of the Sudan were published in the 1970's to great critical acclaim - and to a new wave of controversy.  Still seeking adventure, at age 71 she took up scuba diving and photographed the world's coral reefs until her death last year at age 101.

Despite the controversy surrounding her, OLYMPIA and TRIUMPH OF THE WILL are widely considered two of the finest and most influencial documentaries ever made.  Film historians consider her the greatest female film director in history.