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7.1This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.
Released: 1922-06-1179 minDir: Robert FlahertyDocumentary, DramaBudget: $53,000
▶ Watch trailerStream on: HBO Max Amazon Channel, Philo, GuideDoc, Fandor Amazon Channel, Eternal Family, HBO Max
Cast
- Allakariallak as Nanook
- Alice Nevalinga as Nanook's Wife - the Smiling One
- Cunayou as Cunayou - Nanook's Daughter
- Allegoo as Allegoo - Nanook's Son
- Allee as Allee - Nanook's Son
~14 min read
Article
Nanook of the North 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. In the tradition of what would later be called salvage ethnography, 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.
Some have criticized Flaherty for staging several sequences, 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."
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1922 American films1922 documentary films1922 films1922 French filmsAmerican black-and-white filmsAmerican docufiction filmsAmerican silent feature filmsAnthropology documentary filmsBlack-and-white documentary filmsDocumentary films about animal huntingDocumentary films about Inuit in CanadaEthnofiction films