Between Hitler and Hollywood - Leni Riefenstahl and Arnold Fanck | DW Documentary

Leni Riefenstahl was one of the most controversial artists of the 20th century. Her mentor, Arnold Fanck, was a German film pioneer of the 20s, now largely forgotten. In May, 1932, the two set off together on a five-month filming trip to Greenland.

They were there to make the first ever German-American feature film, the extremely expensive "S.O.S. Eisberg." At the time, it was the riskiest film project ever attempted. Annette Baumeister's current-day documentary is based on spectacular footage from the life-threatening production. Baumeister explores the passionate relationship between Fanck and Riefenstahl, and examines just how closely intertwined the two filmmakers’ careers were. While Fanck’s star waned after "S.O.S. Eisberg," Riefenstahl went on to a superstar career under the Nazis. Did this cold and calculated success come at the expense of her one-time mentor?

The documentary shows excerpts from Fanck's and Riefenstahl's greatest films, including "The White Hell of Pitz Palu" (1929) and "Storm Over Mont Blanc" (1930). Reinhold Messner, Willy Bogner and Matthias Fanck, Fanck's grandson, are all interviewed. Among other things, they speak about the groundbreaking innovations of Fanck's so-called mountain films.

The film also reexamines the work and life of Leni Riefenstahl from a modern perspective. And this deconstruction of the Riefenstahl myth also serves as an overdue tribute to Fanck, a largely forgotten cinema pioneer.