Leni Riefenstahl directed Triumph of the Will in 1935 to document the 1934 Nazi party rally in Nuremberg. Though Riefenstahl claimed it was objective, historical records show she collaborated closely with Hitler and the Nazi party to shape the film's propaganda message glorifying Hitler and Nazi ideology. The documentary uses film techniques like dramatic music and lighting to construct a preferred, propagandistic reading that positioned viewers to embrace Nazi messages of German power and unity under Hitler's leadership.

1. Documentary as Propaganda
• Leni Riefenstahl made two
documentaries about Nazi
Germany before she
directed Triumph of the
Will in 1935.
• She claimed that this, her
most famous
documentary, was an
Leni objective record of the
Riefenstahl 1934 Nuremburg Rally.
1902 - 2003 • However, historical
records indicate that the

2. Triumph of the Will (Riefenstahl ,
1935) – Analysis and Discussion
Watch the opening sequence of the film
•What is the preferred reading of the text?
•How is the spectator positioned towards
this reading through film form? (micro
elements)
Make notes in your note book or on Google
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