Der Sieg des Glaubens

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Der Sieg des Glaubens

Directed by	Leni Riefenstahl
Produced by	Leni Riefenstahl
Written by	Leni Riefenstahl
Starring	Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, Other Nazi Leaders
Music by	Herbert Windt
Distributed by	Propagandaministerium, Hauptabteilung Film
Release date(s)	1933
Running time	61 min.
Language	German
Budget	Unknown
IMDb profile

Der Sieg des Glaubens (English: The Victory of Faith) is the first documentary directed by Leni Riefenstahl, who was hired despite opposition from Nazi officials that resented employing a woman — and a non-Party member too. Her film recounts the Fifth Party Rally of the Nazi Party, which occurred in Nuremberg from August 30 to September 3 in 1933.

Like her Nazi documentaries of 1935, the short Tag der Freiheit (Day of Liberty) and the classic propaganda feature Triumph of the Will, Der Sieg des Glaubens documents the Fifth NSDAP Congress in a straight chronological format. It has no voiceover commentary and few explanatory titles. The activities captured by Riefenstahl's cameras include the welcoming of foreign diplomats and other party members and politicians at the Nuremberg train station; Adolf Hitler's arrival at the airport and his meeting with important party members; massive SA (Sturmabteilung - the paramilitary grass roots of the NSDAP) parades; and Hitler's speech on the tenth anniversary of the German National Socialist movement. [1]

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The film includes Ernst Röhm, head of the Sturmabteilung (SA) and, at the time, the second most powerful man within the NSDAP (National Socialist German Worker's Party). In less than a year, in June 1934 during the Night of Long Knives, Röhm, a known homosexual, and several of his lieutenants were executed under Hitler's orders. All references to Röhm were ordered to be erased from German history, which included the destruction of all known copies of this film. The film Triumph des Willens was produced to replace it and follows a similar script which is evident when one sees both films side by side, for example, the city of Nuremberg scenes -- down to the shot of a cat that is included in the city driving sequence in both films. The innovative camera angles and editing that made Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will such a ground-breaking film are already demonstrated in the film.

Director Leni Riefenstahl was visiting Great Britain in April 1934, to speak at major universities to discuss her documentary film techniques. It is during this visit that at least one copy of this film is known to have been duplicated. It was found after being in storage for over 60 years, and is the only known surviving print. The opening credits appear to have been shot off of a screen projection, but the remainder of the footage appears to be a direct copy of a print. This copy is, allegedly, heavily protected by the German Federal Archives with rights administered through Transit Film Munich.