Robert Flaherty

Directing·Feb 16, 1884·Iron Mountain, Michigan, USA

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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, 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 the South Seas, and Man of Aran (1934), filmed in Ireland's Aran Islands. Flaherty is considered the "father" of both the documentary and the ethnographic film. Andrew Sarris in his influential book of film criticism The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929–1968 included him in the "pantheon" of the 14 greatest film directors who had worked in the United States.

Film	Credit
Cast of Shadows2025 · self (archival)	self (archival)
Monica in the South Seas2023 · Self (archival footage)	Self (archival footage)
A Boatload of Wild Irishmen2010 · Self (archive footage)	Self (archive footage)
The Titan: Story of Michelangelo1950 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director
GGuernica1949 · Director	Director
Louisiana Story1948 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia1943 · Director of Photography	Director of Photography
Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike1943 · Director of Photography	Director of Photography
Why We Fight: Prelude to War1942 · Director of Photography	Director of Photography
The Land1942 · Narrator (voice), Writer, Director of Photography, Director	Narrator (voice), Writer, Director of Photography, Director
Elephant Boy1937 · Director	Director
A Night of Storytelling1935 · Director of Photography, Director	Director of Photography, Director
Man of Aran1934 · Director, Writer, Director of Photography	Director, Writer, Director of Photography
TThe English Potter1933 · Director	Director
Industrial Britain1931 · Director, Producer, Director of Photography	Director, Producer, Director of Photography
Tabu: A Story of the South Seas1931 · Producer, Screenplay	Producer, Screenplay
Twenty-Four Dollar Island1927 · Director, Producer, Director of Photography	Director, Producer, Director of Photography
Moana1926 · Director, Screenplay, Producer, Director of Photography	Director, Screenplay, Producer, Director of Photography
The Pottery Maker1925 · Director	Director
Nanook of the North1922 · Director of Photography, Director, Producer, Writer	Director of Photography, Director, Producer, Writer
TThe Eskimo1916 · Director	Director