Hitler’s filmmaker is focus of Spring Symposium

Entitled "Leni's Legacy: Art, Ethics, and Propaganda,"  the series features film screenings, a play, lectures and question-and-answer sessions during February, March and April. 

Triumph of the Will

A screening of Ms. Riefenstahl’s “Triumph of the Will,” a 1930s propaganda film commissioned by Adolf Hitler, opens the symposium on Thursday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m., in 209 McEwen Hall. It was her most famous film. Though widely banned in the United States as a propaganda film for the Nazi Party, the documentary received many international awards for ground-breaking filmmaking techniques and is still regarded as one of the most effective pieces of propaganda ever produced.   John Antosh, lecturer of Modern Languages, and Stephen Kershnar, professor of Philosophy, will introduce the film and host a question/answer session following the screening.   

Keynote Lecture by Ingeborg Majer O'Sickey

On Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m.  in Room W101 Thompson Hall, the keynote lecture, Coolness Factor: Taking the Temperature of Leni Riefenstahl's Aesthetics of Cool will focus on the ways in which debates over Riefenstahl’s work enter into current cinematic practice as well as film history, ethics and censorship. The keynote speaker is Dr. Ingeborg Majer O’Sickey, professor of German and director of Women’s Studies at SUNY Binghamton.  An internationally recognized scholar of German film and film theory, she is the author of the 1998 book Triangulated Visions: Women in Recent German Cinema, and of a forthcoming monograph analyzing the representation of gender and nation in films of the Nazi era. She is co-editor of Riefenstahl Screened: An Anthology of New Criticism slated for release in December 2008.  Dr. O’Sickey’s lecture has been made possible by a grant from the Carnahan-Jackson Fund for the Humanities of the Fredonia College Foundation.

The play, "Aunt Raini"

The SUNY Fredonia Department of Theatre & Dance will present the East Coast premiere of “Aunt Raini,” a play loosely based on the life of Ms. Riefenstahl that explores the artistic dilemma faced by two young artists in New York City who uncover the past life of Aunt Raini. The play will be staged Feb. 22 and 23, and Feb. 28 to March 1 at 8 p.m. at Bartlett Theater. A matinee will be held Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. Professor Thomas Loughlin directs the play, which was written by Tom Smith, associate professor of theatre at New Mexico State University. The play features senior acting majors Stephanie Faatz, Roger Mulligan and Jeannie Lisk. A post-production panel discussion and question/answer session will be held with the playwright, director and cast on Feb. 23 at Bartlett Theater.

The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl

The documentary, “The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl,” will be screened on Thursday, March 13, 7 p.m., 209 McEwen. Carl Ferraro, associate professor of Visual Arts & New Media, and Linda Brigance, associate professor of Communication, will introduce the film and host a question/answer session.

 Degenerate Art 

“Degenerate Art” will be shown Thursday, March 20, 7 p.m., at 209 McEwen. Dr. Ferraro and Leesa Rittelmann will introduce the film and lead a question/answer session.

 Leesa Rittelmann at Faculty Brown Bag

The faculty Brown Bag Lunch Series on Friday, April 4, noon, at the Williams Center (Room S104) will feature Dr. Rittelmann, who will speak on “Feminism, Fascism and the Portrait Photographs of Erna Lendvai-Dircksen, 1920-1945.” 

Laura Johnson discusses propaganda before World War II

Concluding the symposium will be “Propaganda in American Media Before World War II,” by Laura Johnson, assistant professor of Communication, on Thursday, April 10, at 7 p.m. in McEwen Hall Room 209.