Directing
Robert Flaherty
Born February 16, 1884 · Iron Mountain, Michigan, USA
Died July 23, 1951 · aged 67
Robert Joseph Flaherty (February 16, 1884 – July 23, 1951) was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, Nanook of the North (1922). The film made his reputation and nothing in his later life fully equaled its success, although he continued the development of this new genre of narrative documentary with Moana (1926), set in t…
Known For
Why We Fight: Prelude to War · 1942Why We Fight: Prelude to War
★ 6.41942
MovieDocumentaryWar
Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Pentagon and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II. This film examines the differences between democratic and fascist states.
Tabu: A Story of the South Seas · 1931Tabu: A Story of the South Seas
★ 7.11931
MovieRomanceDrama
On the South Pacific island of Bora Bora, a young couple's love is threatened when the tribal chief declares the girl a sacred virgin.
Nanook of the North · 1922Nanook of the North
★ 7.11922
MovieDocumentaryDrama
This 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.
Moana · 1926Moana
★ 6.71926
MovieDocumentary
Robert J. Flaherty’s follow-up to Nanook of the North shifts from the Arctic to the South Seas, portraying Samoan village life with a painterly eye. Blending ethnographic detail with a romanticized “Gauguin idyll,” the film celebrates daily rituals, communal traditions, and the passage into adulthood, suffused with what Flaherty called “pride of beauty, pride of strength.”
Elephant Boy · 1937Elephant Boy
★ 6.61937
MovieAdventureDrama
In India, Toomai, a young mahout, helps lead the British on a large expedition to round up wild elephants.
Man of Aran · 1934Man of Aran
★ 7.31934
MovieDocumentaryDrama
A documentary on the life of the people of the Aran Islands, who were believed to contain the essence of the ancient Irish life, represented by a pure uncorrupted peasant existence centred around the struggle between man and his hostile but magnificent surroundings. A blend of documentary and fictional narrative, the film captures the everyday trials of life on Ireland's unforgiving Aran Islands.
Louisiana Story · 1948Louisiana Story
★ 6.31948
MovieAdventureDrama
The idyllic life of a young Cajun boy and his pet raccoon is disrupted when the tranquility of the bayou is broken by an oil well drilling near his home.
Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia · 1943Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia
★ 6.91943
MovieDocumentaryWar
The fifth film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, revealing the nature and process of the fight between the Soviet Union and Germany in the Second World War.
Filmography
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