After a brief introduction to the social and historical background of the time in which Leni Riefenstahl directed her most famous films, this study will focus on how the filmmaker used images of athletes in her film on the 1936 Olympic Games, which is known as Olympia (1938). The idea is to explore the gap between the date in which the event was held, when it was important to show the world a pacified Germany, and the date the film was screened, approximately 18 months later. The main goal is not to discuss the political use to which this film was put, but rather how technical and expressive features in Olympia highlight political, social and historical aspects of that period.
Sociology; Cinema; Society; Images of the body