Leni Riefenstahl – Exhibition: Nuban wrestlers, Sudan; ca. 1973

Leni Riefenstahl certainly has an “interesting” history.

Always claimed to be mesmerized by the Nazi’s, but never identified as one herself. After the war people claimed she was a Nazi, but she won 50+ libel cases versus people who claimed she was. Seemed to be close enough to the party to seem like she was among it but far enough away to never be fully sure.

I do notice that in her films like Olympia and alot of her work she focuses with emphasis on race and the physical body. They’re quite mesmerizing to watch – the fitness of the people the way muscles move and sway under weight, through dance and physical movement.

Olympia if anyone cares to watch. (NSFW due to nudity)