Robert Flaherty
Directing
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.
Known for
Directing15
Guernica
1949
Director
movieLouisiana Story
1948
Director
movieThe Land
1942
Director
movieElephant Boy
1937
Director
movieA Night of Storytelling
1935
Director
movieMan of Aran
1934
Director
movieIndustrial Britain
1931
Director
movieWhite Shadows in the South Seas
1928
Co-Director
movieMoana
1926
Director
movieThe Pottery Maker
1925
Director
movieNanook of the North
1922
Director
The Eskimo
1916
Director
Camera10
movieWhy We Fight: The Battle of Russia
1943
Director of Photography
movieWhy We Fight: The Nazis Strike
1943
Director of Photography
movieWhy We Fight: Prelude to War
1942
Director of Photography
movieThe Land
1942
Director of Photography
movieA Night of Storytelling
1935
Director of Photography
movieMan of Aran
1934
Director of Photography
movieIndustrial Britain
1931
Director of Photography
movieTwenty-Four Dollar Island
1927
Director of Photography
movieMoana
1926
Director of Photography
movieNanook of the North
1922
Director of Photography
Production7
movieLouisiana Story
1948
Producer
movieIndustrial Britain
1931
Producer
movieMoana
1926
Producer
movieNanook of the North
1922
Producer
Writing7
It's All True
1943
Original Story
movieThe Land
1942
Writer
movieMan of Aran
1934
Writer
movieTabu: A Story of the South Seas
1931
Screenplay
movieMoana
1926
Screenplay
Acting4
movieCast of Shadows
2025
self (archival)
movieMonica in the South Seas
2023
Self (archival footage)
movieA Boatload of Wild Irishmen
2010
Self (archive footage)
movieThe Land
1942
Narrator (voice)
Editing3
Crew2
movieA Letter to Freddy Buache
1983
In Memory Of
movieWhy We Fight: Prelude to War
1942
Cinematography