Leni Riefenstahl Part a

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The main features of Leni Riefenstahl’s life, namely her background and rise to prominence reveal how her opportunistic character contributed to her life achievements. Leni Riefenstahl was born 22nd August 1902 to the considerably wealthy Bertha and Alfred Riefenstahl in Berlin. Her strict father greatly opposed her artistic pursuits, so the daring Riefenstahl conspired with her mother to receive dance lessons at the Grimm Reiter School without his knowledge. What followed was a short-lived yet impressive career as a dancer of the Expressionist movement which debuted in Tonhalle, 1923; toured major European cities to perform greater than 60 shows, and ended in Prague, 1924 due to a knee injury. Although her dance career had come to an abrupt end, Riefenstahl willingly took the opportunity which presented itself in Arnold Fanck’s ‘Mountain of Destiny’ to transition into a career of acting. Experienced in dealing with difficult men, Riefenstahl gained a role in Fanck’s, ‘The Holy Mountain’ (1926). Her participation with his films sparked her interest in filmmaking and led to her transition to filmmaker. In 1931, Riefenstahl made her directorial debut with, ‘The Blue Light’ which became successful both in its cinematographic prowess and in appealing to German nationalistic ideals. The film, although marking her independence as an artist, could not have been the success it was were it not for the assistance of Fanck, Sokal and writer Bela Balazs, but played a large role in her rise to prominence as it brought her to the attention of Adolf Hitler. Riefenstahl encountered Hitler for the first time at the Berlin Sports Palace rally in 1932, was greatly impressed by him and subsequently wrote a letter requesting to meet him. Upon meeting, Hitler expressed his admiration for her and after several refusals she agreed to film the 1933 rally, ‘Victory of Faith’.
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