First released on 11 June 1922 in New York, Nanook of the North is considered the world’s first feature length documentary. The film preserved the disappearing ethnographic culture of the Inuit indigenous community in Canada. Robert Flaherty, an American explorer and director of the film, was considered the Father of Documentary.
Although the film is widely celebrated as a pioneering documentary, most of the sequences were constructed and staged by Flaherty. Despite the controversy, Flaherty influenced the birth of ethnographic films. The Library of Congress honoured its significance by choosing it as one of the first 25 films in the National Film Registry for preservation in 1989.
Photo: Poster of Nanook of the North
Watch the film and further reading:
Nanook of the North – AFI Catalog Spotlight, American Film Institute
https://www.afi.com/news/nanook-of-the-north-afi-catalog-spotlight/
Further reading:
How I Film Nanook of the North
https://www.documentary.org/fea…/how-i-filmed-nanook-north
