Leni Riefenstahl, the 97-year old German photographer and filmmaker best known for her Nazi propaganda films, has survived a helicopter crash in Sudan. Riefenstahl was returning from a trip to the Nuba mountains with her companion Horst Kettner, when their aircrraft was forced to land 350k from the Sudanese capital Khartoum. She suffered two broken ribs while Kettner sustained injuries to his eyes and shoulder.
Riefenstahl has rarely strayed form public consciousness since her notorious liaison with Germany's Nazi party during the 1930's. She was well acquainted
with Hitler and became the party's most important filmmaker, documenting events such as the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the film Triumph of the Will. Though imprisoned after the was for her collaboration, Riefenstahl has always maintained that she thinks of herself as a filmmaker, not a politician. Recently the Hollywood rumour mill has indicated that Jodie Foster has expressed an interest in making a biopic of Leni's extraordinary life - a suggestions has sparked the predictable controversy. Speaking to reporters yesterday Ms Riefenstahl said, "It is incomprehensible that my activities overall and that my plans to travel to Sudan in particular to help the Nuba would stir controversy."