MCMA 543 - TV Documentary production 

Instructor Janice Thompson 
 

On Robert Flaherty’s N
​ anook of the North 
Octavio Daniel Rodríguez Juárez 
 
Nanook of the North is, in my opinion, not only a foundational moment in the evolution 

of documentary production as a format, but also as a key piece of film that equally 

impacted audiences, as well as film distributors, and that would later be noted as a 

moment with strong significance also in social sciences such as anthropology, cultural 

theory, and art history. It was selected in 1989 to become part of the United States 

Library of Congress, as one of the 25 films due to its “cultural, historical, and aesthetic 

significance”. The official synopsis provided by the distributor of the film reads: “Robert 

Flaherty’s classic film tells the story of Inuit hunter Nanook and his family as they 

struggle to survive in the harsh conditions of Canada’s Hudson Bay region” (The 

Criterion Collection, 2020).  

In order to approach N
​ anook of the North​ properly, it is necessary to deepen in its 

production process, which took several months. The film was financed by a fur 

company in 1920, took around 16 weeks, and every scene was planned in advance, with 

Nanook (whose real name was actually ​Allakariallak, b

​ ut that was renamed as N
​ anook 

to appeal euro-american audiences) making suggestions about what sorts of action to 

include (Bordwell and Thompson, 2002: 184). The hostile environment (but also the 

experimental nature of his work, I would add), demanded the creator, Robert Flaherty, to 

undertake several licences such as staging and reenactment (elements which are now 

 
 

mostly considered elements of a different genre, ​docudrama​). In my opinion, the more 

relevant triumph of N
​ anook of the North​ as a piece of film relies, from the first hand, to 

its mere existence, which points out to a series of technical achievements (just to begin 

with: to expose, stabilize and process film in such hostile conditions). On the other side, 

I believe that part of its uniqueness and relevance in terms of language comes also 

from its narrative structure and effective script, visibly different from the conventions at 

the time, proving its relevance as an advance in film history as an art form (and probably 

the major reason why it is considered the “first documentary feature film”). Finally, its 

efficient montage relies mostly on visual language to structure sequences of cohesive 

and progressive action (Its major strengths are visual, not verbal).  

Nevertheless, (and just as I think it should be with every piece of documented history, in 

this case, documentary film itself) I also consider that part of the historical and cultural 

significance of a film like ​Nanook of the North​ demands to think of it critically. Why does 

it say about humankind that the first documentary feature film ever made is about the 

“observation” of Western people towards a visibly marginalized ethnic group? ​Nanook of 

the North​ was made in a moment of film history in which documentary had not yet 

emerged as a format, yet film was already functioning as massive form of 

entertainment aimed to achieve communal amusement. In his brief history of 

documentary film, scholar Michael Rabiger reflects on this: “Actually Nanook’s clothing 

and equipment come from his grandfather’s time, so the film reconstructs a way of life 

already erased by the onset of industrialized society and its technologies” (Rabiger, 

2004: 21). Although it has been severally addressed that many of the elements in 

Nanook -not just the clothing- had to be staged due to the hostile conditions in which 

 
 

the film was shot, I cannot help but notice that this decision also points out directly to a 

historical tendency in anthropology, art history and social sciences in general to otrify 

and exotisize non-western people as well as minorities living in the western world. While 

revisiting N
​ anook of the North​, I remembered the words of postcolonial studies scholar 

Edward Said when he describes the vision that Europe built from the East, forced as an 

imaginary invention “in which time had not passed”, aimed to erase -consciously or not- 

the traces of the genocide and extermination these people were subjected to during 

colonialism. T
​ he orient was almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity “a 

place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes, remarkable 

experiences. Now it was disappearing; in a sense it had happened, its time was over” 

(Said, 2020: 9).  

 
 
 
 
Bibliography 
 
● Criterion Collection, The (2020).​ Films - 574: Nanook of the North. ​(Online). 
Available at: ​https://www.criterion.com/films/574-nanook-of-the-north​. Last 
inquiry: January 28th, 2020.  
● Rabiger, M. (2004) ​Directing the documentary. Fourth edition. Focal Press. 
Burlington, MA. pp. 20-22. 
● Said, E. (2020)​ O
​ rientalism.​ Routledge and Kegan Paul. (Online) Available at: 
https://sites.evergreen.edu/politicalshakespeares/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/
2014/12/Said_full.pdf​ Last inquiry: January 28th, 2020. pp. 9 
● Thompson, C., and Bordwell, D. (2002) F
​ ilm History: an introduction (2nd. edition) 
McGraw-Hill Higher Education. pp. 184-185