Nanook of the North

A film now synonymous with the documentary form and with Eskimo life, Robert Flaherty's filmed record of an Inuit family living in artic Canada set down many of the standards for non-fiction filmmaking while also expanding film's ability to document vanishing, cultures. Though Flaherty's authenticity has since been called into question, its emotional impact and artistic style still resonate.

 was added to the National Film Registry in 1989.