Editing Leni Riefenstahl (section)

==Directing career==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 152-42-31, Nürnberg, Leni Riefenstahl mit Heinrich Himmler.jpg|thumb|Riefenstahl stands near [[Heinrich Himmler]] while instructing her camera crew at [[Nuremberg]], 1934.]]

===Propaganda films===
Riefenstahl heard [[Nazi Party]] (NSDAP) leader [[Adolf Hitler]] speak at a rally in 1932 and was mesmerized by his talent as a public speaker.{{sfn|Downing|2012|p=23}} Describing the experience in her memoir, Riefenstahl wrote, "I had an almost apocalyptic vision that I was never able to forget. It seemed as if the Earth's surface were spreading out in front of me, like a hemisphere that suddenly splits apart in the middle, spewing out an enormous jet of water, so powerful that it touched the sky and shook the earth".{{sfn|Downing|2012|p=23}}

Hitler was immediately captivated by Riefenstahl's work. She is described as fitting in with Hitler's ideal of [[Aryan]] womanhood, a feature he had noted when he saw her starring performance in ''[[The Blue Light (1932 film)|Das Blaue Licht]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Idols of Modernity: Movie Stars of the 1920s|last=Petro|first=Patrice|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|location=Camden, New Jersey|year=2010|isbn=978-0813547329|page=278}}</ref> In May 1933, Hitler asked Riefenstahl to make a film about [[Horst Wessel]], but she declined.{{sfn|Niven|2018|p=53}} Riefenstahl was offered the opportunity to direct ''[[The Victory of Faith|Der Sieg des Glaubens]]'', an hour-long propaganda film about the fifth [[Nuremberg Rally]] in 1933.{{sfn|Downing|2012|p=23}} The opportunity that was offered was a huge surprise to Riefenstahl. Hitler had ordered [[Joseph Goebbels]]'s [[Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda|Propaganda Ministry]] to give the film commission to Riefenstahl, but the Ministry had never informed her.<ref name="Hinton-1978">{{Cite book|title=The Films of Leni Riefenstahl|last=Hinton|first=David|publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]]|year=1978|isbn=978-0-8108-1141-6|location=Metuchen, New Jersey|pages=27–29}}</ref> Riefenstahl agreed to direct the movie even though she was only given a few days before the rally to prepare.<ref name="Hinton-1978" /> She and Hitler got on well, forming a friendly relationship.{{sfn|Downing|2012|p=23}} The propaganda film was funded entirely by the NSDAP.{{sfn|Downing|2012|p=23}}

During the filming of ''Der Sieg des Glaubens'', Hitler had stood side by side with the leader of the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' (SA), [[Ernst Röhm]], a man with whom he clearly had a close working relationship. Röhm was murdered on Hitler's orders a short time later, during the purge of the SA referred to as the [[Night of the Long Knives]]. It has gone on record that, immediately following the killings, Hitler ordered all copies of the film to be destroyed, although Riefenstahl disputed that this ever happened.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Leni Riefenstahl – A Memoir|last=Riefenstahl|first=Leni|publisher=Picador|year=1987|isbn=978-0-312-11926-3|location=New York City|pages=150}}</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2004-0312-503, Nürnberg, Reichsparteitag, Marsch der Wehrmacht.jpg|thumb|left|Riefenstahl and a camera crew stand in front of Hitler's car during the 1934 rally in Nuremberg.]]
Still impressed with Riefenstahl's work, Hitler asked her to film ''[[Triumph of the Will|Triumph des Willens]]'' ("Triumph of the Will"), a new propaganda film about the 1934 party rally in Nuremberg.{{sfn|Hinton|2000|p=20}} More than one million Germans participated in the rally.{{sfn|The History Place 2001}} The film is sometimes considered the greatest propaganda film ever made.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Scott |first=Ian |date=2009 |title=Frank Capra and Leni Riefenstahl: Politics, Propaganda and the Personal |journal=Comparative American Studies |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=285–297 |doi=10.1179/147757009x12571600892054|s2cid=153372214 }}</ref> Initially, according to Riefenstahl, she resisted and did not want to create further Nazi Party films, instead wanting to direct a feature film based on [[Eugen d'Albert]]'s ''[[Tiefland (opera)|Tiefland]]'' ("Lowlands"), an opera that was extremely popular in Berlin in the 1920s.{{sfn|Hinton|2000|p=20}} Riefenstahl received private funding for the production of ''Tiefland'', but the filming in Spain was derailed and the project was cancelled.{{sfn|Hinton|2000|p=20}} (When ''[[Tiefland (film)|Tiefland]]'' was eventually shot, between 1940 and 1944, it was done in black and white, and was the third most expensive film produced in [[Nazi Germany]].<ref name="Tegel-2003">{{Cite journal |last=Tegel |first=Susan |date=2003 |title=Leni Riefenstahl's 'Gypsy Question' |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0143968022000055230 |journal=[[Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television]] |location=London, England |publisher=[[Routledge]] |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=3–10 |doi=10.1080/0143968022000055230 |s2cid=191561991}}</ref> During the filming of ''Tiefland,'' Riefenstahl utilized [[Romani people|Romani]] from internment camps for extras, who were severely mistreated on set, and when the filming completed they were sent to the death camp [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]].<ref name="Tegel-2003" />) Hitler was able to convince her to film ''Triumph des Willens'' on the condition that she would not be required to make further films for the party, according to Riefenstahl.{{sfn|Hinton|2000|pp=21–22}} The motion picture was generally recognized as an epic, innovative work of [[propaganda]] filmmaking.{{sfn|Hinton|2000|pp=21–22}} The film took Riefenstahl's career to a new level and gave her further international recognition.{{sfn|Hinton|2000|p=21}}

In interviews for the 1993 documentary ''[[The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl]]'', Riefenstahl adamantly denied any deliberate attempt to create [[Nazi propaganda]] and said she was disgusted that ''Triumph des Willens'' was used in such a way.{{sfn|Müller 1999}}

In a private letter to Hitler, quoted in a 2024 documentary, Riefenstahl seems enthusiastic about the propaganda effects of ''Triumph des Willens'': "the film's impact as German propaganda is greater than I could have imagined and your image, my Führer, is always applauded".<ref name="Xan#" />

Despite allegedly vowing not to make any more films about the Nazi Party, Riefenstahl made the 28-minute ''[[Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht]]'' ("Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces") about the [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]] in 1935.{{sfn|Rother|2003|p=238}} Like ''Der Sieg des Glaubens'' and ''Triumph des Willens'', this was filmed at the annual Nazi Party rally at Nuremberg.{{sfn|Rother|2003|p=238}} Riefenstahl said this film was a sub-set of ''Der Sieg des Glaubens'', added to mollify the German Army which felt it was not represented well in ''Triumph des Willens''.{{sfn|Aitken|2013|p=760}}

Hitler invited Riefenstahl to film the [[1936 Summer Olympics]] scheduled to be held in Berlin, a film which Riefenstahl said had been commissioned by the [[International Olympic Committee]].{{sfn|Tomlinson|2012|pp=74–76}} She visited Greece to take footage of the route of the [[1936 Summer Olympics torch relay|inaugural torch relay]] and the games' original site at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]], where she was aided by Greek photographer [[Nelly's]].{{sfn|Tomlinson|2012|pp=74–76}} This material became ''[[Olympia (1938 film)|Olympia]]'', a hugely successful film which has since been widely noted for its technical and aesthetic achievements.{{sfn|Tomlinson|2012|pp=74–76}} ''Olympia'' was secretly funded by the Nazis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tegel |first=Susan |date=2006 |title=Leni Riefenstahl's Gypsy Question Revisited: The Gypsy Extras In ''Tiefland'' |journal=[[Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television]] |publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=London, England|volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=21–43 |doi=10.1080/01439680500533375|s2cid=191423623 }}</ref> She was one of the first filmmakers to use [[tracking shot]]s in a documentary,{{sfn|Andrew|1999|pp=183–184}} placing a camera on rails to follow the athletes' movement. The film is also noted for its slow motion shots.{{sfn|Andrew|1999|pp=183–184}} Riefenstahl played with the idea of slow motion, underwater diving shots, extremely high and low shooting angles, panoramic aerial shots, and tracking system shots for allowing fast action.   Riefenstahl also "reversed the film to make the divers turn backwards, holding them in the air as if to defy the laws of gravity".<ref name="Xan#">{{Cite news |title=Riefenstahl review – deep-dive study takes down the Nazis' favourite director. Venice film festival 2024 |last=Brooks |first=Xan |date=29 August 2024 |work=The Guardian |url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/aug/29/riefenstahl-review-deep-dive-study-takes-down-the-nazis-favourite-director |access-date=19 September 2024}}</ref> Many of these shots were relatively unheard of at the time, but Riefenstahl's use and augmentation of them set a standard, and is the reason they are still used to this day.<ref>{{cite web|title=Leni Riefenstahl|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/lriefenstahl.html|website=Jewish Virtual Library}}</ref> Riefenstahl's work on ''Olympia'' has been cited as a major influence in modern sports photography.{{sfn|Tomlinson|2012|pp=74–76}}{{sfn|Andrew|1999|pp=183–184}} Riefenstahl filmed competitors of all races, including African-American [[Jesse Owens]] in what later became famous footage.{{sfn|Edmondson|2007|p=72}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S34639, Joseph Goebbels und Leni Riefenstahl crop.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Riefenstahl in conversation with Propaganda Minister [[Joseph Goebbels]], 1937]]
''Olympia'' premiered for Hitler's 49th birthday in 1938. Its international debut led Riefenstahl to embark on an American publicity tour in an attempt to secure commercial release.{{sfn|F-R Publishing Corporation 2007}} In February 1937, Riefenstahl enthusiastically told a reporter for the ''[[Detroit News]]'', "To me, Hitler is the greatest man who ever lived. He truly is without fault, so simple and at the same time possessed of masculine strength".{{sfn|Rollyson 2007}} On 31 August 1938, ''Olympia'' won the [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]] cup at the [[Venice Film Festival]] as "Best foreign film".<ref name="Xan#" /> She arrived in [[New York City]] on 4 November 1938, five days before ''[[Kristallnacht]]'' (the "Night of the Broken Glass").{{sfn|Graham 1993}} When news of the event reached the United States,{{sfn|Graham 1993}} Riefenstahl publicly defended Hitler.{{sfn|Graham 1993}} On 18 November, she was received by [[Henry Ford]] in [[Detroit]]. ''Olympia'' was shown at the Chicago Engineers Club two days later.{{sfn|Graham 1993}} [[Avery Brundage]], President of the International Olympic Committee, praised the film and held Riefenstahl in the highest regard.{{sfn|Bernstein|2013|p=111}} She negotiated with [[Louis B. Mayer]], and on 8 December, [[Walt Disney]] brought her on a three-hour tour showing her the ongoing production of ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]''.{{sfn|Graham 1993}}

From the ''[[Goebbels Diaries]]'', researchers learned that Riefenstahl had been friendly with [[Joseph Goebbels]] and his wife [[Magda Goebbels|Magda]], attending the opera with them and going to his parties.{{sfn|Rollyson 2007}} Riefenstahl maintained that Goebbels was upset when she rejected his advances and was jealous of her influence on Hitler, seeing her as an internal threat.{{sfn|James 2007}} She therefore insisted his diary entries could not be trusted.{{sfn|James 2007}} By later accounts, Goebbels thought highly of Riefenstahl's filmmaking but was angered with what he saw as her overspending on the Nazi-provided filmmaking budgets.{{sfn|James 2007}}

===Iconography===
In ''Triumph of the Will'', Tom Saunders argues that Hitler serves as the object of the camera's gaze. Saunders writes, "Without denying that 'rampant masculinity' (the 'sexiness' of Hitler and the SS) serves as the object of the gaze, I would suggest that desire is also directed toward the feminine. This occurs not in the familiar sequences of adoring women greeting Hitler's arrival and cavalcade through Nuremberg. In these Hitler clearly remains the focus of attraction, as more generally in the visual treatment of his mass following. Rather, it is encoded in representation of flags and banners, which were shot in such a way as to make them visually desirable as well as potent political symbols".<ref name="Quarterly">{{cite journal|first=Tom|last=Saunders|title=Filming the Nazi Flag: Leni Riefenstahl and the Cinema of National Arousal|journal=[[Quarterly Review of Film and Video]]|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=London, England|volume=33|issue=1|date=7 March 2007|pages=23–45|doi=10.1080/10509208.2015.1094329|s2cid=194205755}}</ref> The flag serves as a symbol of masculinity, equated with national pride and dominance, that supposedly channels men's sexual and masculine energy. Riefenstahl's cinematic framing of the flags encapsulated its iconography. Saunders continues, "The effect is a significant double transformation: the images mechanize human beings and breathe life into flags. Even when the carriers are not mostly submerged under the sea of colored cloth, and when facial features are visible in profile, they attain neither character nor distinctiveness. The men remain ants in a vast enterprise. By contrast and paradoxically, the flags, whether a few or hundreds peopling the frame, assume distinct identities".<ref name="Quarterly"/>

===Use of music===
Riefenstahl distorts the [[diegetic]] sound in ''Triumph of the Will''. Her distortion of sound suggests she was influenced by German art cinema. Influenced by Classical Hollywood cinema's style, German art film employed music to enhance the narrative, establish a sense of grandeur, and to heighten the emotions in a scene. In ''Triumph of the Will'', Riefenstahl used traditional folk music to accompany and intensify her shots. Ben Morgan comments on Riefenstahl's distortion of sound: "In ''Triumph of the Will'', the material world leaves no aural impression beyond the music. Where the film does combine diegetic noise with the music, the effects used are human (laughter or cheering) and offer a rhythmic extension to the music rather than a contrast to it. By replacing diegetic sound, Riefenstahl's film employs music to combine the documentary with the fantastic."<ref>{{cite journal|first=Ben|last=Morgan|title=Music in Nazi Film: How Different is ''Triumph of the Will?''|journal=Studies in European Cinema|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|location=Boca Raton, Florida|date=15 September 2006|volume=3|issue=1|pages=37–53|doi=10.1386/seci.3.1.37/1|doi-broken-date=25 March 2025 |s2cid=191330845}}</ref>

===World War II===
[[File:Leni Riefenstahl - Końskie, Poland - prisoners shot - 1939.png|thumb|The controversial photo taken on 12 (for some other sources, 5) September 1939 in [[Końskie]], Poland, in which Riefenstahl is crying and is visibly shocked.]]
When [[Invasion of Poland|Germany invaded Poland]] on 1 September 1939, Riefenstahl was photographed in Poland wearing a military uniform and a pistol on her belt in the company of German soldiers; she had gone to Poland as a war correspondent.{{sfn|Robert 2013}}{{sfn|James 2007}} On 12 September, she was in the town of [[Końskie]] when 30 civilians were executed in retaliation for an alleged attack on German soldiers.{{sfn|Harris 2007}} According to her [[memoir]], Riefenstahl tried to intervene but a furious German soldier held her at gunpoint and threatened to shoot her on the spot.{{sfn|James 2007}} She said she did not realize the victims were Jews.{{sfn|James 2007}} According to another account given by a German officer, Riefenstahl had asked that the Jews be removed from the market, which was relayed to the soldiers as "Get rid of the Jews", thus leading to the massacre.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/aug/28/film-suggests-nazis-propagandist-leni-riefenstahl-had-role-in-1939-massacre|title=Film suggests Nazis' lead propagandist had role in 1939 massacre|date=28 August 2024|first=Kate|last=Connolly|website=The Guardian}}</ref> Photographs of a distraught Riefenstahl survive from that day.{{sfn|James 2007}} Nevertheless, by 5 October 1939, Riefenstahl was back in [[History of Poland (1939–45)|occupied Poland]] filming Hitler's [[Invasion of Poland#Aftermath|victory parade in Warsaw]].{{sfn|Harris 2007}} Afterwards, she left Poland and chose not to make any more Nazi-related films.{{sfn|Moore 2003}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2004-0021, Polen, Truppenbesuch von Leni Riefenstahl.jpg|thumb|left|Riefenstahl as a war correspondent in Poland, 1939]]

On 14 June 1940, the day Paris was declared an [[open city]] by the French and occupied by German troops, Riefenstahl wrote to Hitler in a [[telegram]], "With indescribable joy, deeply moved and filled with burning gratitude, we share with you, my Führer, your and Germany's greatest victory, the entry of German troops into Paris. You exceed anything human imagination has the power to conceive, achieving deeds without parallel in the history of mankind. How can we ever thank you?"{{sfn|Harris 2007}} She later explained, "Everyone thought the war was over, and in that spirit I sent the cable to Hitler".{{sfn|Riding 2003}} Riefenstahl was friends with Hitler for 12 years.{{sfn|Mathews}} However, her relationship with Hitler severely declined in 1944 after her brother died on the Russian Front.{{sfn|Moore 2003}}

After the Nuremberg rallies trilogy and ''Olympia'', Riefenstahl began work on the movie she had tried and failed to direct once before, namely ''Tiefland''.{{sfn|Kenrick|2006|p=197}}{{sfn|Trimborn|2007}} On Hitler's direct order, the [[Government of Nazi Germany|German government]] paid her {{Reichsmark|7 million}} in compensation.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://riefenstahl.askdefinebeta.com/| title = "Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (August 22 1902 – September 8 2003)"}}</ref> From 23 September until 13 November 1940, she filmed in [[Krün]] near [[Mittenwald]].{{sfn|Kenrick|2006|p=197}} The extras playing Spanish women and farmers were drawn from Romani detained in a camp at [[Salzburg|Salzburg-Maxglan]] who were forced to work with her.{{sfn|Kenrick|2006|p=197}} Filming at the [[Babelsberg Studios]] near Berlin began 18 months later in April 1942.{{sfn|Kenrick|2006|p=197}} This time [[Sinti]] and [[Romani people|Roma]] people from the [[Berlin-Marzahn concentration camp|Marzahn]] detention camp near Berlin were compelled to work as extras.{{sfn|Kenrick|2006|p=197}} Almost to the end of her life, despite overwhelming evidence that the concentration camp occupants that had been forced to work on the movie were later sent to the [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz death camp]], Riefenstahl continued to maintain that all the film extras survived.{{sfn|Trimborn|2008|pp=206–208}}{{sfn|Mathews}} Riefenstahl sued filmmaker Nina Gladitz, who said Riefenstahl personally chose the extras at their holding camp; Gladitz had found one of the Romani survivors and matched his memory with stills of the movie for a documentary Gladitz was filming.{{sfn|Taylor 2007}} The German court ruled largely in favour of Gladitz, declaring that Riefenstahl had known the extras were from a concentration camp, but they also agreed that Riefenstahl had not been informed the Romani would be sent to [[Auschwitz]] after filming was completed.{{sfn|Taylor 2007}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2004-0020, Polen, Truppenbesuch von Leni Riefenstahl.jpg|thumb|Riefenstahl instructing her film crew in Poland, 1939]]

This issue came up again in 2002, when Riefenstahl was 100 years old and she was taken to court by a Roma group for denying the Nazis had exterminated Romani.{{sfn|Connolly 2002}} Riefenstahl apologized and said, "I regret that [[Sinti]] and Roma [people] had to suffer during the period of National Socialism. It is known today that many of them were murdered in [[concentration camp]]s".{{sfn|Connolly 2002}}

In October 1944 the production of ''Tiefland'' moved to [[Barrandov Studios]] in [[Prague]] for interior filming.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} Lavish sets made these shots some of the most costly of the film.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} The film was not edited and released until almost ten years later.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}}

The last time Riefenstahl saw Hitler was when she married Peter Jacob on 21 March 1944.{{sfn|Riding 2003}} Riefenstahl and Jacob divorced in 1946.{{sfn|Heck-Rabi|1984|p=126}} As Germany's military situation became impossible by early 1945, Riefenstahl left Berlin and was [[hitchhiking]] with a group of men, trying to reach her mother, when she was taken into custody by American troops.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} She walked out of a holding camp, beginning a series of escapes and arrests across the chaotic landscape.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} At last making it back home on a bicycle, she found that American troops had seized her house.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} She was surprised by how kindly they treated her.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}}

===Thwarted film projects===
Most of Riefenstahl's unfinished projects were lost towards the end of the war.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} The French government confiscated all of her editing equipment, along with the production reels of ''Tiefland''.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} After years of legal wrangling, these were returned to her, but the French government had reportedly damaged some of the film stock while trying to develop and edit it, with a few important scenes being missing (although Riefenstahl was surprised to find the original negatives for ''Olympia'' in the same shipment).{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} During the filming of ''Olympia'', Riefenstahl was funded by the state to create her own production company in her own name, Riefenstahl-Film GmbH, which was uninvolved with her most influential works.<ref name="Tegel-2003" /> She edited and dubbed the remaining material and ''Tiefland'' premiered on 11 February 1954 in [[Stuttgart]].{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} However, it was denied entry into the [[Cannes Film Festival]].{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} Although Riefenstahl lived for almost another half century, ''Tiefland'' was her last feature film.{{sfn|BBC News 2005}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1988-106-29, Leni Riefenstahl bei Dreharbeiten.jpg|thumb|left|Riefenstahl filming a difficult scene with the help of two assistants, 1936]]

Riefenstahl tried many times to make more films during the 1950s and 1960s, but was met with resistance, public protests and sharp criticism.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} Many of her filmmaking peers in Hollywood had fled Nazi Germany and were unsympathetic to her.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} Although both film professionals and investors were willing to support her work, most of the projects she attempted were stopped owing to ever-renewed and highly negative publicity about her past work in Nazi Germany.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}}

In 1954, [[Jean Cocteau]], who greatly admired the film, insisted on ''Tiefland'' being shown at the Cannes Film Festival, which he was running that year.{{sfn|Falcon 2003}} In 1960, Riefenstahl attempted to prevent filmmaker [[Erwin Leiser]] from juxtaposing scenes from ''Triumph des Willens'' with footage from concentration camps in his film ''Mein Kampf''.{{sfn|Falcon 2003}} Riefenstahl had high hopes for a collaboration with Cocteau called ''Friedrich und Voltaire'' ("Friedrich and Voltaire"), wherein Cocteau was to play two roles.{{sfn|Hinton|2000|p=135}} They thought the film might symbolize the love-hate relationship between Germany and France.{{sfn|Hinton|2000|p=135}} Cocteau's illness and 1963 death put an end to the project.{{sfn|Hinton|2000|p=135}} A musical remake of ''Das Blaue Licht'' ("The Blue Light") with an English production company also fell apart.{{sfn|Hinton|2000|p=136}}

In the 1960s, Riefenstahl became interested in Africa from [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s ''[[Green Hills of Africa]]'' and from the photographs of [[George Rodger]].{{sfn|Rhiel|O'Sickey|Pages|2008|p=244}}{{sfn|Moore 2003}} She visited Kenya for the first time in 1956 and later Sudan, where she photographed [[Nuba peoples|Nuba]] tribes with whom she sporadically lived, learning about their culture so she could photograph them more easily.{{sfn|Rhiel|O'Sickey|Pages|2008|p=244}} Even though her film project about modern slavery entitled ''Die Schwarze Fracht'' ("The Black Cargo") was never completed, Riefenstahl was able to sell the stills from the expedition to magazines in various parts of the world.{{sfn|Rhiel|O'Sickey|Pages|2008|p=244}} While scouting shooting locations, she almost died from injuries received in a truck accident.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} After waking up from a coma in a [[Nairobi]] hospital, she finished writing the script, but was soon thoroughly thwarted by uncooperative locals, the [[Suez Crisis|Suez Canal crisis]] and bad weather.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} In the end, the film project was called off.{{sfn|University of Washington 2008}} Even so, Riefenstahl was granted [[Sudanese people|Sudanese]] citizenship for her services to the country, becoming the first foreigner to receive a Sudanese passport.{{sfn|Salkeld|2011|p=253}}