Despite having mentioned the film on a few occasions, first, in A Cinematic Trip Around Canada then in the Mini-Review Round-Up Late August/September 2013, I have never featured Nanook of the North on this page. Both those passing references to this film discuss its imperfections: the cultural perspective the story is told from, the casual racism of some intertitles, and the methods employed in the making of this film some documentarians find controversial (Flaherty lost footage and recreated it via dramatization; he also created half-igloos to shoot in order to solve lighting concerns).

I, myself, can’t blame a filmmaker dealing with the limitations of his equipment doing all he could to present the images he captured to the world. Especially, when the alternative was yet another lost film. Despite the built-in concerns that one must acknowledge, it doesn’t discount the importance of this early documentary feature.

It is viewable below. Enjoy!