Films Starring Leni Riefenstahl

Das Schicksal Derer Von Habsburg - (1928)

Full German title: Das Schicksal Derer Von Habsburg - Die Tragodie Eines Kaiserreiches

English translation: Fate of the House of Hapsburg or The Destiny of the House of Hapsburg

A feature film which premiered in Hamburg in late 1928 with a running time of 76 minutes.

An Austrian production that served Riefenstahl as a vehicle in straightforward drama while director Arnold Fanck was busy off filming the 1928 Olympic games.

Little is known about the film. Clearly not referred to in most biographies except as a titled feature that no one has seen. [see below]

From the Das Blaue Licht.net News Wire [Fall 2002] La Cineteca del Friuli has revealed that they will be screening a lost Leni Riefenstahl film at their silent film festival in October 2002. Apparently Italian film restoration artists have located Das Schicksal Derer Von Habsburg (1928) .The film, which stars Riefenstahl in her first non "berg" film role, tells of the glory and decadence of the house of Hapsburg. Restorers began with a nitrate print of the Italian version in extreme decay, and some fragments of the original German version. A transition to video, with the surviving material, was necessary given the very poor condition of the Italian print. The process was begun when the film material was located in 1999.

Riefenstahl who related that her role in the film was greatly diminished due to an unrelenting illness, stated of Habsburg, "it was decided to reduce my part... my role became marginal. Finally the last six days of shooting arrived and, despite my high temperature, I managed to act. I never saw this film, which in any event was very quickly taken out of the cinemas: I could not reconcile myself to the misfortune which had dogged me at such a propitious moment for my career."

It is hoped that the reconstructed film will eventually find its way to the general video release market. Both the Italian and German re-issues have been known to play at festivals and run about 73 minutes. A 4 minute clip of never before seen Das Schicksal Derer Von Habsburg footage can be found at the KataWeb Cinema web page from Italy. http://www.kwcinema.kataweb.it

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