Nanook of the North is a silent documentary film produced by Robert J. Flaherty. The film is centered around the humble lives of a group of Quebec Inuit. Although the documentary is praised for being one of the first realistic depictions of alternative culture, In Chapter Five of Bill Nichols Introduction to Documentary, Nichols excuses Flaherty for recreating shot to look as though it was inside of an igloo, when it was, in reality, a reenactment created in the open air with an oversized igloo as the backdrop. Nichol’s condones this false impression despite it arguably amounting to ‘bad science’ stating that this recreation is ‘part and parcel of documentary representation.’.
Tom Gunning coined the term ‘Cinema of Attractions’ which refers