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In ‘Riefenstahl,’ A German Director Takes Down Hitler’s Favorite Filmmaker, Who Still Appeals To Hollywood — Venice Film Festival


In 'Riefenstahl,' premiering at the Venice Film Festival, a German director takes down Hitler's favorite filmmaker, who is still popular in Hollywood.

The new documentary Riefenstahl, premiering today at the Venice Film Festival, argues the German filmmaker carefully crafted a narrative absolving herself of responsibility for becoming Hitler’s favored cinematic propagandist. After Germany’s defeat in World War II, when it was no longer helpful to be identified with the Nazis, Riefenstahl consistently described herself as an apolitical artist who merely took, in her words, “assignments” from Hitler and his circle. In an interview with public radio’s Fresh Air in 2009, Quentin Tarantino opined, “Leni Riefenstahl was the one person Goebbels had no control over in the filmmaking community of Nazi Germany, and they despised each other.

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