Das Blaue Licht

Debut film by Leni Riefenstahl, famous and infamous for her lyrical documentaries during the Nazi era. Das blaue Licht is a so-called 'Mountain Film', a genre which was popular in German in the thirties. She acted in the film herself and had earlier performed in films made by her teacher, the famous Mountain-Film-maker Arnold Fanck.The film was shot with a very small crew entirely on location in the Swiss canton Ticino (with the exception of a small studio section in which a mysterious cave, the source of the blue light, is evoked). In her autobiography, Riefenstahl reflects in detail on the difficult and dangerous conditions for filming high in the mountains. She was greatly impressed by the people of the village Sarentino, who she primarily regarded as a collection of rustic heads, and did everything possible to get the locals to perform in her film.