Wednesday 7th June 2023

Leni Riefenstahl: Hitler’s Filmmaker

Lecturer: Howard Smith

Leni Riefenstahl was undoubtedly one of the most creative women of the twentieth century. From her early days dancing on Berlin’s stages, to becoming an actress and then producing her own films, she was always difficult and uncompromising in what she wanted to achieve. Her iconic films of the 1934 Nuremburg Nazi rally and the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games were exceptional, using techniques that were way ahead of their time and still used in documentaries today. After the war, having been cleared by three Nazi tribunals, she went to live with a remote tribe in Africa, producing stunning photographs and documentaries.

Howard Smith is a retired graphic designer. Born during the Second World War, he was educated in Scotland and gained an MA from Trinity College, Dublin. In the 1960s he worked for UK and International advertising agencies before starting his own marketing and print company in Canterbury.