Yahoo Lifestyle ‘Riefenstahl,’ Documentary About Nazi Propagandist and Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, Acquired by Kino Lorber for North America (EXCLUSIVE)
Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Andres Veiel’s Venice prizewinning documentary “Riefenstahl,” a critical portrait of Leni Riefenstahl, a filmmaker and Nazi propagandist who was close to Adolf Hitler.
Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release in 2025, followed by a digital, educational, and home video release.
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Produced by Sandra Maischberger, “Riefenstahl” world premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it received the Cinema & Arts Award. The movie played Telluride Film Festival and will next screen at the Zurich Film Festival.
Riefenstah directed films such as “Triumph of the Will” and “Olympia” which are defined by their fascist aesthetics. Her friendship with Hitler and other Nazi dignitaries was well documented during WW2. Yet, Riefenstahl, who first broke into the German film industry as an actress, spent decades after the war denying her association with Nazi ideology and claiming ignorance of the Holocaust.
“Riefenstahl” features materials from Leni Riefenstahl’s estate, including private films, photos, recordings and letters.
“Andres Veiel’s ‘Riefenstahl’ is not a simple biography but a forensic exploration, a remarkable, in-depth interrogation of one of the most contentious figures in cinema history,” said Kino Lorber’s head of theatrical acquisitions and distribution Lisa Schwartz, who negotiated the deal with Dirk Schuerhoff, CEO of Beta Cinema.
“With unprecedented access to Leni Riefenstahl’s archive, including never before seen personal documents and footage from her estate, Veiel’s documentary questions her lifelong claims against her own complicity, crafting a damning portrait of an artist that is compelling, disturbing, and ultimately essential viewing,” Schwartz continued.
Veiel, meanwhile, said, “Looking at the world today, a film about Riefenstahl became an urgent necessity for me.”
“Riefenstahl’s extensive legacy, reinterpreted in the light of her private estate, offered the opportunity for a new take on the timeless attraction of imperial greatness and the need for the staging of the trained, perfect and victorious ones, as we see them on the rise today again,” the filmmaker continued. Kino Lorber previously acquired another docu by Veiel, “Beuys.”
Maischberger said, “Leni Riefenstahl’s hundred-year history of life and influence is a key to understanding the mechanisms of manipulation that we are currently encountering again.” She argued that “deciphering her work means to unveil the original sin of film propaganda in order to be able to recognize its resurrection today.”
“Riefenstahl” is produced by Vincent Productions in co-production with WDR, NDR, BR, SWR and rbb, in collaboration with Rai Cinema. The production is supported by FFA, BKM, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmstiftung NRW, and DFFF.
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