The Last of the Nuba
Encyclopedia
'The Last of the Nuba' is the English-language title of German film director Leni Riefenstahl
's 1973 'Die Nuba', an illustrations book published a year later in the United States
. The book was an international bestseller
and was followed-up by the successful 1976 book Die Nuba von Kau.
among the mysterious Nuba
tribe. She studied their way of life and recorded it on film and in pictures of unusual fascination for eternity. Particularly the circumstance that through the advance of civilization the Nuba's way of life is approaching its irreversible end is giving these picture documents a unique anthropological, ethnological and cultural-historical importance.
Newsweek
called the book "the year's most compelling picture book in any category" one that is "deeply romantic - but never romanticized" and is "monumentally moving". Eudora Welty
continued this praise in the New York Times citing its "absorbing beauty" and "cumulative power". Jonas Mekas
wrote that her photographs "can cut through your heart" and declared "She is a monument. She is a mountain. She is a genius."
Although shortly after its 1974 release in America, the critic Susan Sontag
scrutinized the "fascist aesthetics" of the works in her widely read essay "Fascinating Fascism". Writing in the New York Review of Books in 1975 "The fascist dramaturgy centers on the orgiastic transactions between mighty forces and their puppets," . She continued "Its choreography alternates between ceaseless motion and a congealed, static, 'virile' posing." Sontag writes that the collection was the "final, necessary step in Riefenstahl's rehabilitation. It is the final rewrite of the past; or, for her partisans, the definitive confirmation that she was always a beauty-freak rather than a horrid propagandist" and that it was "certainly the most ravishing book of photographs published anywhere in recent years."
The Art Director's Club of Germany awarded Leni a gold medal for the best photographic achievement of 1975.
and Vanishing Africa
in the 2002 book, Africa by Leni Riefenstahl. The collection garnered positive reviews;
"A big, black Mercedez-Benz of a book.... Ideology aside, the pictures are hard to resist, combining all the voyeuristic pleasures of National Geographic-style anthropology with an unequivocal appreciation of the innate grace and symmetry of the human form... Riefenstahl`s photographs preserve a mythic vision of this Eden before the fall, a romantic lost world, captured in images as powerfully seductive as the artist herself." V Magazine
"A magnificent collection and a fitting celebration of this formidable artist's 100th birthday."
The Times Higher Education Supplement
"an imposing collection". Newsweek
. For the first time, Riefenstahl's extensive moving footage of the Nuba was also shown to the public in the film.
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...
's 1973 'Die Nuba', an illustrations book published a year later in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The book was an international bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
and was followed-up by the successful 1976 book Die Nuba von Kau.
Overview
From 1962 until 1977 Riefenstahl had been living as the first white woman with a special permission issued by the Sudanese government in the remote valleys of the central SudanSudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
among the mysterious Nuba
Nuba
Nuba is a collective term used here for the peoples who inhabit the Nuba Mountains, in Sudan, Africa. Although the term is used to describe them as if they composed a single group, the Nuba are multiple distinct peoples and speak different languages...
tribe. She studied their way of life and recorded it on film and in pictures of unusual fascination for eternity. Particularly the circumstance that through the advance of civilization the Nuba's way of life is approaching its irreversible end is giving these picture documents a unique anthropological, ethnological and cultural-historical importance.
Reception
The book performed well both critically and commercially. It is generally accepted that her photography of the Nuban tribe rehabilitated her career as an artist.Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
called the book "the year's most compelling picture book in any category" one that is "deeply romantic - but never romanticized" and is "monumentally moving". Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty
Eudora Alice Welty was an American author of short stories and novels about the American South. Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous awards. She was the first living author to have her works published...
continued this praise in the New York Times citing its "absorbing beauty" and "cumulative power". Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas is a Lithuanian-born American filmmaker, writer, and curator who has often been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema." His work has been exhibited in museums and festivals across Europe and America.-Biography:...
wrote that her photographs "can cut through your heart" and declared "She is a monument. She is a mountain. She is a genius."
Although shortly after its 1974 release in America, the critic Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag was an American author, literary theorist, feminist and political activist whose works include On Photography and Against Interpretation.-Life:...
scrutinized the "fascist aesthetics" of the works in her widely read essay "Fascinating Fascism". Writing in the New York Review of Books in 1975 "The fascist dramaturgy centers on the orgiastic transactions between mighty forces and their puppets," . She continued "Its choreography alternates between ceaseless motion and a congealed, static, 'virile' posing." Sontag writes that the collection was the "final, necessary step in Riefenstahl's rehabilitation. It is the final rewrite of the past; or, for her partisans, the definitive confirmation that she was always a beauty-freak rather than a horrid propagandist" and that it was "certainly the most ravishing book of photographs published anywhere in recent years."
The Art Director's Club of Germany awarded Leni a gold medal for the best photographic achievement of 1975.
Africa collection
The photographs were recently republished along with those of The People of KauThe People of Kau
The People of Kau is the title of the 1976 English-language translation of German film director Leni Riefenstahl's Die Nuba von Kau , an illustrations book published in the same year in Germany...
and Vanishing Africa
Vanishing Africa
Vanishing Africa is the title of the 1982 English-language translation of German film director Leni Riefenstahl's 'Mein Afrika', an illustrations book published in the same year in Germany...
in the 2002 book, Africa by Leni Riefenstahl. The collection garnered positive reviews;
"A big, black Mercedez-Benz of a book.... Ideology aside, the pictures are hard to resist, combining all the voyeuristic pleasures of National Geographic-style anthropology with an unequivocal appreciation of the innate grace and symmetry of the human form... Riefenstahl`s photographs preserve a mythic vision of this Eden before the fall, a romantic lost world, captured in images as powerfully seductive as the artist herself." V Magazine
V (American magazine)
V magazine is an American fashion magazine published since 1999. The magazine is printed seasonally and highlights trends in fashion, film music and art. A men's fashion quarterly entitled VMAN started as an offshoot in 2003.-History:...
"A magnificent collection and a fitting celebration of this formidable artist's 100th birthday."
The Times Higher Education Supplement
The Times Higher Education Supplement
The Times Higher Education , formerly Times Higher Education Supplement , is a weekly British magazine based in London reporting specifically on news and other issues related to higher education...
"an imposing collection". Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
Documentary
Together with her other published photographs of the Nuba, several photographs from the book were showcased in the 1993 documentary, The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni RiefenstahlThe Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl is a 1993 German documentary film about the life of German film director Leni Riefenstahl, directed by Ray Müller.-Production background:...
. For the first time, Riefenstahl's extensive moving footage of the Nuba was also shown to the public in the film.