jun 11, 1922 - First Documentry

Description:

On this date the first ever non-fictional film was released, it was called 'Nanook of the North' directed by Robert J Flaherty. It was about the struggles of an Inuk man in the Canadian Arctic.

This was a time when the concept of separating films into documentary and drama did not yet exist. This was the first feature-length film to do this.

The film was ground-breaking cinema. It captured many authentic details of a culture little-known to outsiders, It was the first time film was used to open up the doors of the public to the world and present issues or information to a mass audience. It made people want to explore and understand the world they are living in more, it fascinated and captivated it's audience.

This is an important step in film history, documentaries are a huge part of how we learn and understand our world today, not just from the news, but rather presented in a more interesting, beautiful way with interweaved story lines and narratives that manages to captivate and effect us.

Documentaries also have the power to change the world, unite people on an issue. One of the biggest examples of this is the 'Planet Earth' series with David Attenborough, episodes about climate change and sea life threats helped increase people's awareness and attention to these topical issues. When these episodes where released there was significantly more news attention and media surrounding these issues. Another influential documentary was 'OJ: Made in America,' documentaries can also be good at re telling a story, presenting the facts in a more clear and visually interesting way. This documentary helped many people understand and feel more aware about what went down with OJ's case.

After this film's release, the film industry was dominated by documentaries and many other film makers started to experiment more with how to transform real knowledge and world understanding into art.

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