Robert J. Flaherty
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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 A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
, ''
Nanook of the North ''Nanook of the North'' is a 1922 American silent film which combines elements of documentary and docudrama, 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 c ...
'' (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 the
South Seas Today the term South Seas, or South Sea, is used in several contexts. Most commonly it refers to the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of the equator. In 1513, when Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa coined the term ''Mar del Sur'', ...
, and ''
Man of Aran ''Man of Aran'' is a 1934 Irish fictional documentary (ethnofiction) film shot, written and directed by Robert J. Flaherty about life on the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland. It portrays characters living in premodern conditions, d ...
'' (1934), filmed in Ireland's
Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; gle, Oileáin Árann, ) or The Arans (''na hÁrainneacha'' ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the histo ...
. Flaherty is considered the "father" of both the documentary and the
ethnographic film An ethnographic film is a non-fiction film, often similar to a documentary film, historically shot by Western filmmakers and dealing with non-Western people, and sometimes associated with anthropology. Definitions of the term are not definitive. ...
. Flaherty was married to writer
Frances H. Flaherty Frances Hubbard Flaherty (December 5, 1883 – June 22, 1972) was a film writer and director known for ''Louisiana Story'' (1948) — for which she received an Academy Awards, Academy Award nomination for Best Original Story — ''The Land'' ...
from 1914 until his death in 1951. Frances worked on several of her husband's films, and received an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nomination for Best Original Story for ''
Louisiana Story ''Louisiana Story'' is a 1948 American black-and-white drama film directed by Robert J. Flaherty. Although it has historically been represented as a documentary film, the events and characters depicted are fictional and the film was commissioned ...
'' (1948).


Early life

Flaherty was one of seven children born to
prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...
Robert Henry Flaherty (an Irish Protestant) and Susan Klockner (a German Catholic). Due to exposure from his father's work as an iron ore explorer, he developed a natural curiosity for people of other cultures. Flaherty was an acclaimed still-photographer in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. His portraits of American Indians and wild life during his travels are what led to the creation of his critically acclaimed ''
Nanook of the North ''Nanook of the North'' is a 1922 American silent film which combines elements of documentary and docudrama, 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 c ...
''. It was his enthusiasm and interests in these people that sparked his need to create a new genre of film. In 1914, he married his fiancée Frances Hubbard. Hubbard came from a highly educated family, her father being a distinguished geologist. A graduate from
Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...
in
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, Hubbard studied music and poetry in
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and was also secretary of the local Suffragette Society. Following their marriage, Frances Flaherty became a crucial part of Robert's success in film. Frances took on the role of
director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...
at times, and helped to edit and distribute her husband's films, even landing governmental film contracts for England. In 1909 he shared stories about information he was told by an
Inuk Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and ...
man named George Weetaltuk, grandfather of
Mini Aodla Freeman Mini Aodla Freeman is an Inuk playwright, writer, poet and essayist. She was born in July 1936 on Cape Hope Island (Nunaaluk) in James Bay, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut), Canada. Mini Aodla was taken by the authorities to Bishop Horden ...
. Flaherty said he met Weetaltuk while visiting the
Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...
in search of
iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
. In his Weetaltuk story, Flaherty published a detailed map of the Inuit region and shared information about the bay that Weetaltuk had told him. His writing about George Weetaltuk would go on to be published in his book, ''My Eskimo Friends: "Nanook of the North".''


''Nanook of the North''

In 1913, on Flaherty's expedition to prospect the
Belcher Islands The Belcher Islands ( iu, script=latn, ᓴᓪᓚᔪᒐᐃᑦ, Sanikiluaq) are an archipelago in the southeast part of Hudson Bay near the centre of the Nastapoka arc. The Belcher Islands are spread out over almost . Administratively, they belon ...
, his boss,
Sir William Mackenzie Sir William Mackenzie (October 17, 1849 – December 5, 1923) was a Canadian railway contractor and entrepreneur. Born near Peterborough, Canada West (now Ontario), Mackenzie became a teacher and politician before entering business as the ow ...
, suggested that he take a motion picture camera along. He brought a
Bell and Howell Bell and Howell LLC is a U.S.-based services organization and former manufacturer of cameras, lenses, and motion picture machinery, founded in 1907 by two projectionists, and originally headquartered in Wheeling, Illinois. The company is now he ...
hand cranked motion picture camera. He was particularly intrigued by the life of the Inuit, and spent so much time filming them that he had begun to neglect his real work. When Flaherty returned to Toronto with 30,000 feet of film, the nitrate film stock was ignited in a fire started from his cigarette in his editing room. His film was destroyed and his hands were burned. Although his editing print was saved and shown several times, Flaherty was not satisfied with the results. "It was utterly inept, simply a scene of this or that, no relation, no thread of story or continuity whatever, and it must have bored the audience to distraction. Certainly it bored me." Flaherty was determined to make a new film, one following a life of a typical Inuk and his family. In 1920, he secured funds from
Revillon Frères Revillon Frères (Revillon Brothers) was a French fur and luxury goods company, founded in Paris in 1723. Then called ''la Maison Givelet'', it was purchased by Louis-Victor Revillon in 1839 and soon, as Revillon Frères, became the largest fur ...
, a French fur trade company to shoot what was to become ''
Nanook of the North ''Nanook of the North'' is a 1922 American silent film which combines elements of documentary and docudrama, 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 c ...
''. On August 15, 1920, Flaherty arrived in Port Harrison,
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
to shoot his film. He brought two Akeley motion-picture cameras which the Inuit referred to as "the aggie".''Year of the Hunter'' CBC documentary He also brought full developing, printing, and projection equipment to show the Inuit his film, while he was still in the process of filming. He lived in an attached cabin to the Revillon Frères trading post. In making ''Nanook'', Flaherty cast various locals in parts in the film, in the way that one would cast actors in a work of fiction. With the aim of showing traditional Inuit life, he also staged some scenes, including the ending, where Allakariallak (who acts the part of Nanook) and his screen family are supposedly at risk of dying if they could not find or build shelter quickly enough. The half-igloo had been built beforehand, with a side cut away for light so that Flaherty's camera could get a good shot. Flaherty insisted that the Inuit not use rifles to hunt, though their use had by that time become common. He also pretended at one point that he could not hear the hunters' pleas for help, instead continuing to film their struggle and putting them in greater danger.
Melanie McGrath Melanie McGrath is a Romford, London, Romford-born English non-fiction writer and crime novelist. Early life Born in Romford, London, Romford, McGrath's parents moved several times during her childhood; to Basildon in Essex, then to a village in ...
writes that, while living in
Northern Quebec Northern Quebec (french: le nord du Québec) is a geographic term denoting the northerly, more remote and less populated parts of the Canadian province of Quebec.Alexandre Robaey"Charity group works with Indigenous communities to feed Northern Quebe ...
for the year of filming ''Nanook'', Flaherty had an affair with his lead actress, the young Inuk woman who played Nanook's wife. A few months after he left, she gave birth to his son, Josephie (December 25, 1921 – 1984), whom he never acknowledged. Josephie was one of the Inuit who were relocated in the 1950s to very difficult living conditions in Resolute and
Grise Fiord Grise Fiord (; iu, ᐊᐅᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ, translit=Aujuittuq, lit=place that never thaws, italics=no) is an Inuit hamlet on the southern tip of Ellesmere Island, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of three populated places on ...
, in the extreme north. Corroboration of McGrath's account is not readily available and Flaherty never discussed the matter. ''Nanook'' began a series of films that Flaherty made on the same theme of humanity against the elements. Others included ''Moana: A Romance of the Golden Age'', set in Samoa, and ''Man of Aran'', set in the Aran Islands of Ireland. All these films employ the same rhetorical devices: the dangers of nature and the struggle of the communities to eke out an existence.


Hollywood

''Nanook of the North'' (
1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...
) was a successful film, and Flaherty was in great demand afterwards. On a contract with
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
to produce another film on the order of ''Nanook'', he went to
Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...
to film '' Moana'' (
1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...
). He shot the film in
Safune Safune is a traditional village district on the central north coast of Savai'i island in Samoa. It lies within the electoral constituency of Gaga'ifomauga. Safune is the birthplace of Mau leader Olaf Frederick Nelson and the filming location o ...
on the island of Savai'i where he lived with his wife and family for more than a year. The studio heads repeatedly asked for
daily rushes In filmmaking, dailies are the raw, film editing, unedited footage shot during the making of a motion picture. The term comes from when movies were all shot on film because usually at the end of each day, the footage was developed, synchronizati ...
but Flaherty had nothing to show because he had not filmed anything yet — his approach was to try to live with the community, becoming familiar with their way of life before writing a story about it to film. He was also concerned that there was no inherent conflict in the islanders' way of life, providing further incentive not to shoot anything. Eventually he decided to build the film around the ritual of a boy's entry to manhood. Flaherty was in Samoa from April 1923 until December 1924, with the film completed in December 1925 and released the following month. The film, on its release, was not as successful as ''Nanook of the North'' domestically, but it did very well in Europe, inspiring
John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Fla ...
to coin the word "documentary." Before the release of ''Moana'', Flaherty made two short films in New York City with private backing, '' The Pottery Maker'' (1925) and '' The Twenty-Four Dollar Island'' (1927).
Irving Thalberg Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...
of
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
invited Flaherty to film ''
White Shadows in the South Seas ''White Shadows in the South Seas'' is a 1928 American silent film adventure romance directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starring Monte Blue and Raquel Torres. It was produced by Cosmopolitan Productions in association with MGM and distributed by MGM. ...
'' (1928) in collaboration with
W. S. Van Dyke Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke II (Woody) (March 21, 1889 – February 5, 1943) was an American film director and writer who made several successful early sound films, including '' Tarzan the Ape Man'' in 1932, ''The Thin Man'' in 1934, ''San Franc ...
, but their talents proved an uncomfortable fit, and Flaherty resigned from the production. Moving to
Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film ...
, Flaherty spent eight months working on the Native American documentary '' Acoma the Sky City'' (1929), but the production was shut down, and subsequently Flaherty's footage was lost in a studio vault fire. He then agreed to collaborate with
F. W. Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays he had seen at t ...
on another South Seas picture, ''
Tabu Tabu may refer to: Cultural and legal concepts *Taboo (spelled ''tabu'' in earlier historical records), something that is unacceptable in society *Tapu (Polynesian culture) (also spelled ''tabu''), a Polynesian cultural concept from which the wor ...
'' (1931). However, this combination proved even more volatile, and while Flaherty did contribute significantly to the story, the finished film, originally released by
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
, is essentially Murnau's.


Britain

After ''Tabu'', Flaherty was considered finished in Hollywood, and Frances Flaherty contacted
John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Fla ...
of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit in London, who assigned Flaherty to the documentary '' Industrial Britain'' (1931). By comparison to Grierson and his unit, Flaherty's habitual working methods involved shooting relatively large amounts of film in relation to the planned length of the eventual finished movie, and the ensuing cost overruns obliged Grierson to take Flaherty off the project, which was edited by other hands into three shorter films. Flaherty wrote a novel about the sea called ''The Captain's Chair'' which was published in 1938 by Scribner. This was presented on BBC Television in November that year, under the title ''The Last Voyage of Captain Grant'', adapted and directed by
Denis Johnston (William) Denis Johnston (18 June 1901 – 8 August 1984) was an Irish writer. Born in Dublin, he wrote mostly plays, but also works of literary criticism, a book-length biographical essay of Jonathan Swift, a memoir and an eccentric work on co ...
. Flaherty's career in Britain ended when producer
Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)Elephant Boy'' (1937), re-editing it into a commercial entertainment picture.


Ireland

Producer
Michael Balcon Sir Michael Elias Balcon (19 May 1896 – 17 October 1977) was an English film producer known for his leadership of Ealing Studios in West London from 1938 to 1955. Under his direction, the studio became one of the most important British film ...
took Flaherty on to direct ''
Man of Aran ''Man of Aran'' is a 1934 Irish fictional documentary (ethnofiction) film shot, written and directed by Robert J. Flaherty about life on the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland. It portrays characters living in premodern conditions, d ...
'' (1934), which portrayed the harsh traditional lifestyle of the occupants of the isolated
Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; gle, Oileáin Árann, ) or The Arans (''na hÁrainneacha'' ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the histo ...
off the west coast of Ireland. The film was a major critical success, and for decades was considered in some circles an even greater achievement than ''Nanook''. As with ''Nanook'', ''Man of Aran'' showed human beings' efforts to survive under extreme conditions: in this case, an island whose soils were so thin that the inhabitants carried seaweed up from the sea to construct fields for cultivation. Flaherty again cast locals in the various fictionalized roles, and made use of dramatic recreation of anachronistic behaviors: in this case, a sequence showing the hunting of sharks from small boats with harpoons, which the islanders had by then not practiced for several decades. He also staged the film's climactic sequence, in which three men in a small boat strive to row back to shore through perilously high, rock-infested seas.


Last years

Back in the United States,
Pare Lorentz Pare Lorentz (December 11, 1905 – March 4, 1992) was an American filmmaker known for his film work about the New Deal. Born Leonard MacTaggart Lorentz in Clarksburg, West Virginia he was educated at Buckhannon High School, West Virginia Wesl ...
of the
United States Film Service United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...
hired Flaherty to film a documentary about US agriculture, a project which became '' The Land''. Flaherty and his wife covered some 100,000 miles, shooting 25,000 feet of film, and captured a series of striking images of rural America. Among the themes raised by Flaherty's footage were the challenge of the erosion of agricultural land and the
Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) an ...
(as well as the beginning of effective responses via improved soil conservation practices), mechanization and rural unemployment, and large-scale migration from the Great Plains to California. In the latter context, Flaherty highlighted competition for agricultural jobs between native-born Americans and migrants from Mexico and the Philippines. The film encountered a series of obstacles. After production had begun, Congress abolished the United States Film Service, and the project was shunted to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
(USDA). With America's entry to World War II approaching, USDA officials (and the film's editor Helen van Dongen) attempted to reconcile Flaherty's footage with rapidly changing official messages (including a reversal of concern from pre-war rural unemployment to wartime labor shortages). Following the
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
, officials grew apprehensive that the film could project an unduly negative image of the US internationally, and although a prestige opening was held at the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
in 1942, the film was never authorized for general release. ''
Louisiana Story ''Louisiana Story'' is a 1948 American black-and-white drama film directed by Robert J. Flaherty. Although it has historically been represented as a documentary film, the events and characters depicted are fictional and the film was commissioned ...
'' (
1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
) was a Flaherty documentary shot by himself and
Richard Leacock Richard Leacock (18 July 192123 March 2011)
The Telegraph (Lon ...
, about the installation of an
oil rig {{about, , the mnemonic OIL RIG, Redox An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling. Kinds of oil rig include: * Drilling rig, an apparatus for on-land oil drilling * Drillship, a floating apparatus for offshore oil drilling * ...
in a
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
swamp. The film stresses the rig's peaceful and unproblematic coexistence with the surrounding environment, and it was in fact funded by
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
, a petroleum company. The main character of the film is a
Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...
boy. The poetry of childhood and nature, some critics argue, is used to make exploration for oil look beautiful.
Virgil Thomson Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassic ...
composed the music for the film. Flaherty was one of the makers of '' The Titan: Story of Michelangelo'' (1950), which won the
Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
. The film was a re-edited version of the German/Swiss film originally titled ''Michelangelo: Life of a Titan'' (1938), directed by Curt Oertel. The re-edited version put a new English narration by
Fredric March Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary ''Variety'', April 16, 1975, p ...
and musical score onto a shorter edit of the existing film. The new credits include Richard Lyford as director and Robert Snyder as producer. The film was edited by Richard Lyford.


Legacy

Flaherty is considered a pioneer of
documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
. He was one of the first to combine documentary subjects with a fiction-film-like narrative and poetic treatment. A self-proclaimed explorer, Flaherty was inducted into the
Royal Geographic Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
of England for his (re)discovery of the main island of the Belcher group in
Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...
in 1914.
Flaherty Island Flaherty Island is the largest island of the Belcher Islands group in Hudson Bay in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. The Inuit community of Sanikiluaq is located on its north coast. Sanikiluaq is the southernmost community in Nunavut. The ...
, one of the
Belcher Islands The Belcher Islands ( iu, script=latn, ᓴᓪᓚᔪᒐᐃᑦ, Sanikiluaq) are an archipelago in the southeast part of Hudson Bay near the centre of the Nastapoka arc. The Belcher Islands are spread out over almost . Administratively, they belon ...
in Hudson Bay, is named in his honor. The Flaherty Seminar is an annual international forum for independent filmmakers and film-lovers, held in rural upstate New York at Colgate University in mid June. The festival was founded in Flaherty's honor by his widow in 1955. Flaherty's contribution to the advent of the documentary is scrutinized in the 2010
British Universities Film & Video Council British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
award-winning and
FOCAL International FOCAL International is the trade association representing stock footage companies, post-production facilities and individuals involved in the use of footage, still images and audio in all forms of media production. It represents more than 300 ...
award-nominated documentary ''A Boatload of Wild Irishmen'', written by Professor Brian Winston of
University of Lincoln , mottoeng = Freedom through wisdom , established = 1861 – Hull School of Art1905 – Endsleigh College1976 – Hull College1992 – University of Humberside1996 – University of Lincolnshire and Humberside2001 ...
, UK, and directed by Mac Dara Ó Curraidhín. The film explores the nature of "controlled actuality" and sheds new light on thinking about Flaherty. The argument is made that the impact of Flaherty's films on the indigenous peoples portrayed changes over time, as the films become valuable records for subsequent generations of now-lost ways of life. The film's title derives from Flaherty's statement that he had been accused, in the staged climactic sequence of ''Man of Aran'', of "trying to drown a boatload of wild Irishmen". In 1994, Flaherty was portrayed by
Charles Dance Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters and villains. His most notable film roles include Sardo Numspa in ''The Golden Child'' (1986), Dr. Jonathan Clemens in ''A ...
in the Canadian drama film '' Kabloonak'', a dramatization of the making of ''Nanook of the North'' from an Inuit perspective."Kabloonak captures the North". ''
Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', September 16, 1994.
The wife of Robert Joseph Flaherty's grandson, Louise Flaherty, is the co-founder of Canada's first independent
Inuk Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and ...
publishing house, Inhabit Media. She is also an author, educator and politician.


Awards

* BAFTA presents the Robert J. Flaherty Award for best one-off documentary. *
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
Oscar - Best Documentary Feature 1950 - '' The Titan: Story of Michelangelo'' * 1913, Fellow,
Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...


Filmography


Films

* ''
Nanook of the North ''Nanook of the North'' is a 1922 American silent film which combines elements of documentary and docudrama, 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 c ...
'' (1922) * " The Pottery Maker" (1925) * '' Moana'' (1926) * " Twenty-Four-Dollar Island" (1927) * ''
Man of Aran ''Man of Aran'' is a 1934 Irish fictional documentary (ethnofiction) film shot, written and directed by Robert J. Flaherty about life on the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland. It portrays characters living in premodern conditions, d ...
'' (1934) * " Oidhche Sheanchais (A Night of Storytelling)" (1935) * '' Elephant Boy'' (1937; with Zoltan Korda) * ''The Land'' (1942; made for the
U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
) * ''
Louisiana Story ''Louisiana Story'' is a 1948 American black-and-white drama film directed by Robert J. Flaherty. Although it has historically been represented as a documentary film, the events and characters depicted are fictional and the film was commissioned ...
'' (1948)


Other work

* ''
White Shadows in the South Seas ''White Shadows in the South Seas'' is a 1928 American silent film adventure romance directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starring Monte Blue and Raquel Torres. It was produced by Cosmopolitan Productions in association with MGM and distributed by MGM. ...
'' (1928; uncredited footage) * '' Acoma the Sky City'' (1929; unfinished film) * ''
Tabu Tabu may refer to: Cultural and legal concepts *Taboo (spelled ''tabu'' in earlier historical records), something that is unacceptable in society *Tapu (Polynesian culture) (also spelled ''tabu''), a Polynesian cultural concept from which the wor ...
'' (1931; screenplay with
F. W. Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays he had seen at t ...
) * " Industrial Britain" (1933; co-producer with
John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Fla ...
) * "The Glassmakers of England" (1935; co-producer with John Grierson) * "The English Potter" (1935; co-producer with John Grierson) * '' The Titan: Story of Michelangelo'' (1950; co-producer with
Ralph Alswang Ralph Alswang (April 12, 1916 – February 1979) was an American theatre and film director, designer, and producer. He designed scenery, lighting, and costumes for nearly 100 Broadway productions. He also designed venues such as the George Gershwin ...
and Robert Snyder)


See also

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Docufiction Docufiction (or docu-fiction) is the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction, this term often meaning narrative film. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality such as it is (as direct cinema or cinéma vérité) and ...
*
Ethnofiction Ethnofiction refers to a subfield of ethnography which produces works that introduces art, in the form of storytelling, "thick descriptions and conversational narratives", and even first-person autobiographical accounts, into peer-reviewed academi ...
*
Ó Flaithbertaigh Ó, ó ( o-acute) is a letter in the Czech, Emilian-Romagnol, Faroese, Hungarian, Icelandic, Kashubian, Polish, Slovak, and Sorbian languages. This letter also appears in the Afrikaans, Catalan, Dutch, Irish, Nynorsk, Bokmål, Occitan, Po ...


References


Further reading

* * *
Frances H. Flaherty Frances Hubbard Flaherty (December 5, 1883 – June 22, 1972) was a film writer and director known for ''Louisiana Story'' (1948) — for which she received an Academy Awards, Academy Award nomination for Best Original Story — ''The Land'' ...
, ''The Odyssey of a Filmmaker: Robert Flaherty's Story'' (Urbana, IL:
Beta Phi Mu Beta Phi Mu (also or βφμ) is the international honor society for library & information science and information technology. Founded by a group of librarians and library educators, the society's express purpose is to recognize and encourage "su ...
, 1960). Beta Phi Mu chapbook no. 4 *Calder-Marshall, Arthur, ''The Innocent Eye; The Life of Robert J. Flaherty''. Based on research material by
Paul Rotha Paul Rotha (3 June 1907 – 7 March 1984) was a British documentary film-maker, film historian and critic. Early life and education He was born Paul Thompson in London, and educated at Highgate School and at the Slade School of Fine Art. Career ...
and
Basil Wright Basil Wright (12 June 1907, Sutton, Surrey – 14 October 1987, Frieth, Buckinghamshire, England) was a documentary filmmaker, film historian, film critic and teacher. Biography After leaving Sherborne School, a well known independent schoo ...
(New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966) *Murphy, William Thomas, ''Robert Flaherty: A Guide to References and Resources'' (Boston: G. K. Hall and Company, 1978) *
Paul Rotha Paul Rotha (3 June 1907 – 7 March 1984) was a British documentary film-maker, film historian and critic. Early life and education He was born Paul Thompson in London, and educated at Highgate School and at the Slade School of Fine Art. Career ...
, ''Flaherty: A Biography'' Edited b y Jay Ruby.(
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
Press, 1984) * Barsam, Richard, ''The Vision of Robert Flaherty: The Artist As Myth and Filmmaker'' (Bloomington, IN:
Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes 140 ...
, 1988) *Christopher, Robert J., ''Robert & Frances Flaherty: A Documentary Life 1883-1922'' (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005) *McGrath, Melanie, ''The Long Exile: A Tale of Inuit Betrayal and Survival in the High Arctic''. (London: Fourth Estate, 2006). (New York: Random House, 2007). The story of forced removal of Inuit in Canada in 1953, including Flaherty's illegitimate Inuit son Josephie. * Ramsaye, Terry, "Flaherty, Great Adventurer," ''
Photoplay ''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For mo ...
'', May 1928, p. 58.


External links

* *
Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical DatabaseRobert Flaherty Film SeminarRevisiting Flaherty's ''Louisiana Story''Hand drawn map by an Inuk man named Wetalltok given to Flaherty in 1919Literature on Robert J. FlahertyRobert Flaherty by Amos Vogel

Robert J. Flaherty Photogravure Prints
at Dartmouth College Library
Finding aid to Robert J. Flaherty papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flaherty, Robert J. 1884 births 1951 deaths People from Iron Mountain, Michigan People from Dummerston, Vermont American people of Irish descent American people of German descent American documentary film directors Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Silent film directors Upper Canada College alumni Film directors from Michigan Film directors from Vermont