Overview

• The film is now playing at Lincoln Center and select theaters after its U.S. theatrical opening on September 5, with Los Angeles engagements beginning September 12 and a streaming release expected in October.
• Director Andres Veiel received unprecedented access to some 700 boxes from Riefenstahl’s estate, digitizing photos, documents, recordings, and films to let her own words contradict her postwar narrative.
• A 1952 letter from an adjutant, presented in the film, alleges Riefenstahl ordered Jews removed from a Końskie marketplace in 1939, an uncorroborated account linked there to the subsequent shooting of 22 people.
• The documentary argues that Riefenstahl’s formal innovations were integral to Nazi propaganda, emphasizing that aesthetics and politics are inseparable when images serve a totalitarian project.
• Coverage notes strong critical reception, including a reported 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, and highlights the film’s archival-driven approach with minimal narration by Andrew Bird.