Robert Flaherty was commissioned by the Revillon Fur Company to make an advertising film, and the result of his visit to the Hudson Bay territory of Canada was “Nanook of the North”. It is difficult to realise that Flaherty had to work entirely alone and without the advantages of panchromatic stock. His use of realist material to present not a story but rather a dramatic theme of man’s struggle with his environment opened up a new realm of film-making. It was the first documentary film in the modern sense. The film shows Nanook, the Eskimo hunter, preparing with his family for the summer, his meeting with the white trader, catching walruses, seals and foxes, building an igloo, training his children in the arts of hunting, breaking camp, and finally returning through a wild storm to safety and rest in an old igloo.
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
017578
Language
English
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Realism in motion pictures
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Arctic regions - Discovery and exploration
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Canada
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Eskimos
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Eskimos - Social life and customs
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Inuit - Canada
Documentary
Documentary → Docudrama
Documentary → Documentary films - Canada
Places → Canada
Silent films
Sound/audio
Silent
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
Text; Access Print (Section 1)
16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)