Ghosts of German Past From Leni Riefenstahl to the Munich Olympics Unspool at Venice Festival

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Andres Veiel’s documentary “Riefenstahl,” which challenges the carefully crafted public persona of one of Germany’s most controversial directors, is one of 17 German films playing in the various sections of the Venice Film Festival.

A deep dive into Leni Riefenstahl’s previously inaccessible archive, the 160-minute film lifts the lid on secrets the director of the 1935 Nuremberg propaganda film “Triumph of the Will” struggled more than half her life to keep hidden.

Veiel was brought onboard to direct by producer Sandra Maischberger of Berlin’s Vincent Films, who had gained unfettered access to Riefenstahl’s archive after the death of her longtime companion and husband Horst Kette in 2016.

“For me, it is the right festival for the film,” Veiel tells Variety. “The political situation in German and Italy is similar — with the rise of the right-wing, and a longing for propaganda and fake news. For a debate about the film, it is one of the best festivals for us.”

There are also ghosts of the past in Venice. Riefenstahl screened several of her films on the Lido in the 1930s, including her two Nazi propaganda films, and her first feature, “The Blue Light,” made in 1932. She even had a retrospective on the Lido in the 1950s, at a time when she was just beginning to construct a persona distanced from the Nazis, and — as the doc “Riefenstahl” shows — largely built on lies.

Although not an easy film to watch as Veiel succeeds in proving her apparent complicity in the murder of Jewish men in Poland and her admiration for Hitler, “Riefenstahl” is likely to prove a hot ticket in Venice.

Another much-anticipated film, Tim Fehlbaum’s 1972 Summer Olympics feature “September 5,” is playing in the Horizons Extra competition section. The film, set during the Munich Olympics when Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches, follows the crisis through the broadcast team from ABC sports. It stars Peter Sarsgaard and John Magaro as sports broadcasters who have to switch from covering track and field events to the Israeli athletes’ hostage crisis, and it focuses on how tragic events can also challenge the moral compass of journalists covering them.

Two German co-productions are screening in the main competition, Athina Rachel Tsangari’s book adaptation “Harvest” and Italian-German-U.S. co-production, “Maria” by Pablo Larrain, about opera singer Maria Callas.

Looking further ahead, German films are also heading to the Toronto Intl. Film Festival.

Key features in the lineup at TIFFinclude Fabian Stumm’s sophomore film “Sad Jokes” playing as an international premiere in the festival’s Discovery section. It focuses on the relationship between Joseph and Sonya, who are raising a son together although their relationship is platonic. Things go awry when Sonya has a breakdown, tearing Joseph’s attention away from a new film project, and the pain of a break-up with his boyfriend, Marc.

Others already announced include “Edge of Night” by Türker Süer, “Seven Days” by Ali Samadi Ahadi, and “The Sunset Special 2” by Nicolas Gebbe.