Riefenstahl, Leni (Berta Helene Amalie) (1902–2003)

German film-maker, actor, and photographer. Her film of the Nazi rallies in Nürnberg, Triumph des Willens/Triumph of the Will (1934), vividly illustrated Hitler's charismatic appeal but tainted her career. She followed this with a filmed two-part documentary on the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games – Olympiad: Fest der Volker/Festival of the Nations and Olympiad: Fest der Schönheit/Festival of Beauty.

She trained as a dancer, appearing in films in the 1920s, but in the early 1930s formed her own production company, and directed and starred in Das blaue Licht/The Blue Light (1932). After World War II she was imprisoned by the French for four years for her Nazi propagandist work. Unable to pursue her film career after being blacklisted, she turned to photography. Her visits to Africa are documented in several volumes of photographs, including The Last of the Nuba (1973) and Mein Afrika/My Africa (1982).