---
name: "Willy Zielke"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/willy-zielke"
fi1m_id: "willy-zielke"
imdb_id: "nm0956221"
tmdb_id: 1469057
wikidata_id: "Q98288"
roles: ["Cinematographer"]
born: "18 September 1902"
died: "16 September 1989"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 70
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-25T02:58:02.024631+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Willy Zielke

## Identity

Willy Zielke

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/willy-zielke
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** willy-zielke
- **IMDb ID:** nm0956221
- **TMDB ID:** 1469057
- **Wikidata ID:** Q98288
- **Same entity:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98288, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0956221/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1469057

Cinematographer. Born 18 September 1902 in Łódź, Poland. Died 16 September 1989.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer
- **Born:** 18 September 1902, Łódź, Poland
- **Died:** 16 September 1989
- **Active:** 1935–1938
- **Also known as:** Viktor Valet, Wilhelm Otto Zielke
- **Frequently works with:** [Albert Kling](https://film.one/person/albert-kling.md), [Károly Vass](https://film.one/person/karoly-vass.md), [Leni Riefenstahl](https://film.one/person/leni-riefenstahl.md), [Walter Frentz](https://film.one/person/walter-frentz.md), [Werner Hundhausen](https://film.one/person/werner-hundhausen.md), [Alexander von Lagorio](https://film.one/person/alexander-von-lagorio.md), [Andor von Bàrsy](https://film.one/person/andor-von-barsy.md), [Erich Nitzschmann](https://film.one/person/erich-nitzschmann.md)
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98288, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0956221/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1469057

## Biography

Willy Zielke, also known as Wilhelm Otto Zielke and Viktor Valet, was a German photographer, director and cinematographer. Born on 18 September 1902 in Łódź, Poland, he trained at the Bavarian State School of Photography in Munich from 1923, later teaching there until 1936. He participated in the 1929 Film und Foto exhibition in Stuttgart with his still-life photography.

From 1931 he worked in film as writer, director and cinematographer on short documentaries, including *Arbeitslos. Ein Schicksal von Millionen* (1933). He directed and photographed the avant-garde industrial film *Das Stahltier* (1935). Zielke contributed cinematography to Leni Riefenstahl’s *Triumph of the Will* (1935) and created the prologue for her *Olympia* films (1938), on which he was also an uncredited cinematographer. Later credits include direction and cinematography on several 1950s shorts; he shared the Deutscher Filmpreis for cinematography on *Schöpfung ohne Ende* (1956). He died on 16 June 1989 in Bad Pyrmont, Germany.

*Sources: imdb.com, filmportal.de, de.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations* (1938), Fi1m 75, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/olympia-part-one-festival-of-the-nations.md)
- *Triumph of the Will* (1935), Fi1m 64, Cinematography, Director of Photography — [page](https://film.one/film/triumph-of-the-will.md)

## Complete filmography (9)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Verlorene Freiheit* (1956), Director, Writer, Director of Photography
- *Schöpfung ohne Ende* (1956), Director of Photography
- *Lowlands* (1954), Additional Photography
- *Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty* (1938), Director of Photography
- *Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations* (1938), Director of Photography — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/olympia-part-one-festival-of-the-nations.md)
- *Day of Freedom* (1935), Cinematography
- *Triumph of the Will* (1935), Director of Photography — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/triumph-of-the-will.md)
- *The Steel Animal* (1935), Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Editor, Producer
- *Unemployed: The Destiny of Millions* (1933), Director

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/willy-zielke