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Robert J. Flaherty

A mineralogist and explorer turned pioneering documentarist, Robert Flaherty shot material for his first film, a study of the Belcher Islands, in 1917 but the footage was accidentally destroyed by fire. Undeterred, he planned another film, on Eskimo life, and received backing from the Revillon Freres fur company to make "Nanook of the North" (1922). An engaging chronicle of the day-to-day existence of one family, "Nanook" became an international success despite initial skepticism on the part of distributors. It also represented a landmark in the development of the documentary, thanks to its use of elements associated with narrative film: Flaherty structured the work around a storyline, directed the Eskimos in scenes "staged" for the benefit of the camera, and made sophisticated use of techniques including close-ups, tilts and pans. The success of "Nanook" earned Flaherty studio backing to make the lyrical Polynesian documentary "Moana" (1926), which was praised by critics but justly attacked by anthropologists as a poetic fantasy rather than an accurate representation of island life.