the films of Arnold Franck attracted her interest. Franck shot his mountain-themed films on location, something rarely done in German cinema of the era. Riefenstahl would star in a series of mountain dramas and comedies for Franck before starting her own production company. As the only female on Franck’s crew, Riefenstahl developed her camera and directorial technique during this period. Her first film for her own company, The Blue Light, won the Silver Medal at the Venice Biennale. No less than Germany’s Fuhrer admired the film, an admiration that culminated in his request for Riefenstahl to film the Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg in 1933. As Riefenstahl noted, Hitler was “pleased with her work and recognized the potential she had for creating an even more inspiring film for the Nazis” (Fleming 3).
The documentary produced of the rally wa
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