RF
Photo of Robert Flaherty

Robert Flaherty

Writer, Producer, Director, Editor, Additional Credits
Born February 16, 1884Died July 23, 1951 (67 years)
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.

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • Nanook of the North
  • Why We Fight
  • Man of Aran
  • The Nazis Strike

Known For

  • Nanook of the North
  • Louisiana Story
  • Man of Aran
  • Tabu: A Story of the South Seas
  • Moana
  • Elephant Boy
  • White Shadows in the South Seas
  • The Titan: Story of Michelangelo

Filmography

1948
Louisiana Story · as Screenplay
1934
1931
1926
Moana · as Screenplay
1922

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