Robert Flaherty
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Awarded the Doctor of Fine Arts degree by the University of Michigan (1950).
The Robert Flaherty Foundation established in 1953 and later renamed International Film Seminars, Inc.
Biography
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.
Flaherty went on to co-direct the narrative feature "White Shadows of the South Seas" (1928) with W.S. Van Dyke and to collaborate with F.W. Murnau on "Tabu" (1931), though he withdrew from both projects before completion. In 1931 he immigrated to England, where he exerted a significant influence on John Grierson and the British "social documentary" movement of the 1930s. Flaherty's best-known British film was "Man of Aran" (1934), a lyrical study of an Irish fisherman and his daily struggle for survival.
Flaherty later returned to the US and made two more highly acclaimed documentaries, "The Land" (1942), for the US Information Service, and "Louisiana Story" (1948), for Standard Oil.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Cinematography (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Editing (Feature Film)
Film Production - Main (Feature Film)
Life Events
1910
Carried out series of expeditions searching for iron ore deposits in Nastapoka Islands, east of the Hudson Bay in Northern Canada for industrial entrepreneur, Sir William Mackenzie of the Mackenzie-Mann Company
1916
Made first documentary film (negative destroyed by cigarette fire in editing room)
1920
Returned to Eskimo country to make film
1922
Made first feature documentary film, "Nanook of the North"
1926
Hired by Jesse L. Lasky to make a film about Polynesian tribal life for Paramount, "Moana"
1928
Began co-directing (with Willard S. Van Dyke) first dramatic feature film, "White Shadows of the South Seas" (left before production completed) for MGM
1937
Went to Great Britain; first worked for John Grierson at Empire Marketing Board, then for Gaumont-British and finally for Alexander Korda's London Films
1939
Returned to US and made "The Land" for Pare Lorentz's US Film Service
1942
Joined Frank Capra's War Department Film Division
1944
Commissioned by Standard Oil to film "Louisiana Story"
1950
Formed Robert Flaherty Film Associates Inc. (date approximate)
Videos
Movie Clip
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Awarded the Doctor of Fine Arts degree by the University of Michigan (1950).
The Robert Flaherty Foundation established in 1953 and later renamed International Film Seminars, Inc.
