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The most atrocious and blatant example of Leni Riefenstahl’s self-obsession was her use of Gypsies when she began filming ''Tiefland'' in 1940. Under Hitler’s regime, Gypsies were rounded up and forced into camps on what American’s would call reservations. Riefenstahl needed extras for several scenes in her movie and made use of the Gypsies. They were forced to work without pay and once filming was complete, they were sent to Auschwitz. Muller showed written documentation of this in his documentary but Riefenstahl denied knowing the Gypsies were from camps or what was to be their fate. In all probability she never saw the names of the people or witnessed the horrors of Auschwitz; however, that does not mean she was unaware of what did and did not exist.
Riefenstahl continued her Fascist themes long after the fall of the Third Reich. In 1974 she published a book of photography based on the lives of the African Nuba tribe. The natives depicted in “The Last of the Nuba” are men of physical perfection who are strong and virile. The women are present for breeding purposes only. The tribe is of course primitive and non-materialistic. They have been untainted by urban values and come from pure blood, tenets that were essential to Nazi Hitler's ideology. Continuing with her Fascist theme was one particularly compelling photo of three Nuba men atop three separate tall rock formations. They were posed in dramatic fashion and possessed a look of athleticism, akin to her work on ''Olympia''. It is arguable that Riefenstahl, as an artist, was simply responding to an aesthetic. It is equally believable that Riefenstahl, as a Nazi, was continuing to propagate her Fuhrer’s ideologies. As was true of all her work, it was art. It was propaganda. A propagandist is not necessarily a criminal.
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