Featuring Leni Riefenstahl on January 19th

Thursday, January 19^th Seeking Our Story presents director Leni Riefenstahl’s TRIUMPH OF THE WILL as a cautionary lesson on the power of media and art in politics. This screening is co-presented with the USC School of Cinematic Arts Events program. Seeking Our Story is sponsored in part by Alliance of Women Directors.

Leni Riefenstahl’s TRIUMPH OF THE WILL

Presented at The Ray Stark Family Theatre

SCA 108, George Lucas Building

USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex

900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 9000

6:00PM Doors + Networking

RSVP for networking to womennmedia@gmail.com
7:30PM Film Presentation
RSVP required at cinema.usc.edu/Riefenstahl

Networking before the film will be provided by Women In Media starting at 6:00PM. To join the networking portion of the evening, RSVP to womennmedia@gmail.com.

Thanks to USC, this open to the public event is presented for Free! RSVPs are required – be sure to secure a ticket. Seating is not guaranteed based on RSVPs. The RSVP list will be checked in on a first-come, first-served basis until the theater is full.

We are trilled to announce our esteemed panel who will join us for a moderated discussion before the film screens:
Dr. Wolf Gruner, Founding Director of the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research
Dr. Michael Renov, Vice Dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts
Dr. Steven Ross, Director of the Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life.

Riefenstahl on set in Nuremberg, 1934

Riefenstahl directing, Nuremberg, 1934

Riefenstahl on set in Nuremberg, 1934

Riefenstahl on set in Nuremberg, 1934

Still from TRIUMPH OF THE WILL (1935)

Riefenstahl editing her work. TRIUMPH OF THE WILL had over 60 hours of footage.

Leni Riefenstahl’s portrayal of the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg defines propaganda filmmaking through skillful use of montage and associative imagery. Reifenstahl commented that in this commission, Hitler “wanted a film which would move, appeal to, impress an audience which was not necessarily interested in politics.” Through visual repetition and an appeal to emotion over reason, Riefenstahl created a masterwork of propaganda that announced Germany’s rise from political instability to world superpower. As Ruth Starkman wrote for the University of California Press’ Film Quarterly, Riefenstahl “presides as the ‘mother’ of modern media.” The Economist claimed upon Riefenstahl’s death that Triumph of the Will, “sealed her reputation as the greatest female film-maker of the 20th century.”

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