John Grierson
John Grierson (1898–1972) was a pioneering Scottish filmmaker and producer who shaped the documentary film movement, earning recognition as the father of British and Canadian documentary cinema. He famously coined the term "documentary" in 1926 and championed the idea that film should serve as a tool for social education and reform. As the driving force behind the British documentary movement, he founded the GPO Film Unit, which produced groundbreaking works like Night Mail (1936), and later played a key role in establishing the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in 1939, turning it into one of the world's most influential documentary institutions. Grierson’s vision and advocacy for documentary as a vehicle for public service and civic engagement left a lasting legacy on global nonfiction filmmaking.
Documenting John Grierson
The Face of Scotland
(John Knox (voice))
Creative Process: Norman McLaren
(Self)
On the Fishing Banks of Skye
(Narrator)
Night Mail
(Commentary)
Rivers at Work
(Narrator)
John Grierson
(Himself)
Hitchcock on Grierson
(Self)
A Return to Memory
(Self (archive sound))
I Remember, I Remember
Grierson
(Self (archive footage))
Weather Forecast
(Producer)
A Job in a Million
(Producer)
Cable Ship
(Producer)
Drifters
(Editor)
Granton Trawler
(Director of Photography)
Granton Trawler
(Producer)
Granton Trawler
(Director)
Post-Haste
(Producer)
Drifters
(Director)
The Coming of the Dial
(Producer)
Seawards the Great Ships
(Screenplay)
The Smoke Menace
(Producer)
Daily Round
(Producer)
BBC: The Voice of Britain
(Producer)
6.30 Collection
(Producer)
A Colour Box
(Producer)
The Song of Ceylon
(Producer)
Coal Face
(Producer)
On the Fishing Banks of Skye
(Director)
O'er Hill and Dale
(Producer)
Health of a City
(Associate Producer)
Heart of Scotland
(Treatment)
Man of Africa
(Producer)
The Brave Don't Cry
(Executive Producer)
Tom Mixup
(Director)
Herlock Sholmes in Be-a-Live-Crook
(Director)
Kuster Beaton
(Director)
Kerri Cheertum in Jungle-Tungle
(Director)
Our Dumb Friend
(Director)
Granton Trawler
(Writer)
Four Men in Prison
(Producer)
Industrial Britain
(Producer)
Devil on Horseback
(Producer)
Spring on the Farm
(Producer)
On the Fishing Banks of Skye
(Producer)
On the Fishing Banks of Skye
(Writer)
The New Generation
(Producer)
Upstream
(Producer)
Children at School
(Producer)
Droitwich: The World's Most Modern Long Wave Transmitter
(Producer)
North Sea
(Executive Producer)
Trade Tattoo
(Producer)
Conquest
(Producer)
Miss Robin Hood
(Executive Producer)
You're Only Young Twice!
(Executive Producer)
The Oracle
(Executive Producer)