Nanook of the North | |
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Directed by | Robert J. Flaherty |
Written by | Robert J. Flaherty |
Produced by | Robert J. Flaherty |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Robert J. Flaherty |
Edited by |
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Production company | |
Distributed by | Pathé Exchange |
Release date |
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Running time | 79 minutes |
Countries | United States France |
Language | Silent film with English intertitles |
Budget | $53,000 |
Part of a series on the |
Anthropology of art, media, music, dance and film |
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Social and cultural anthropology |
Nanook of the North[a] is a 1922 American silent film that combines elements of documentary and docudrama/docufiction, at a time when the concept of separating films into documentary and drama did not yet exist.[citation needed][1] In the tradition of what would later be called salvage ethnography,[citation needed] the film follows the struggles of the Inuk man named Nanook and his family in the Canadian Arctic. It is written and directed by Robert J. Flaherty, who also served as cinematographer, editor, and producer.[citation needed]
Some have criticized Flaherty for staging several sequences,[2] but the film has been described by Roger Ebert as "stand[ing] alone" among Flaherty's films "in its stark regard for the courage and ingenuity of its heroes."[3][4]
It was the first feature-length documentary to achieve commercial success, proving the financial viability of the genre and inspiring many films to come.
In 1989, Nanook of the North was among the first group of 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[5][6]
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