Nanook of the North Documentary Context

Nanook of the North Context

Budget: $53,000 (estimated)

The film was sponsored by the French fur company Revillon Freres, which provided $53,000 for director Robert J. Flaherty's 16-month expedition halfway to the North Pole.

Received almost unanimously by critics, the film was a box office success in the United States and abroad.

Despite being rejected by five distributors, the film opened in New York City in 1922, after its success in Paris and Berlin, and grossed well over $40,000 in its first week.

As the first non-fiction work of its scale, Nanookwas ground-breaking cinema. It captured many authentic details…