Nanook of the North (1922): South West Silents

Enormously popular since its original 1922 release and voted one of Sight & Sound’s Top 10 Greatest Documentaries of All Time, Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North has been celebrated as one of the most beautiful films in the history of cinema.

Flaherty made his film of Eskimo (Inuit) life following six years as an Arctic explorer for the Canadian Northern Railway. Seizing upon the idea of structuring his movie around characters who re-enacted episodes of their lives and participated in the shaping of the film.

Flaherty was not trained as an anthropologist, but he wisely guides our discovery of the people and their activities and ninety years later, Nanook of the North remains as completely engaging as it was in 1922 and a huge influence on many ethnographic films that followed.

South West Silents, Royal Photographic Society and Bristol Ideas are proud to present this new high-definition version from Lobster Films, Paris which was originally sourced from Flaherty’s personal 35mm print. Live musical accompaniment by Meg Morley.

Nanook of the North is part of Bristol Ideas’ 2022 series, Modernism1922 which explores the worlds of film, literature, music, politics and more 100 years ago. It is run as a tribute to Kevin Jackson. His book, Constellation of Genius: 1922: Modernism and All That Jazz tells the story of that remarkable year.

Nanook of the North (1922)

Director: Robert J. Flaherty

USA / 79mins / PG

Live Piano Accompaniment: Meg Morley