John Grierson
Born: 1898-04-26 in Kilmadock, Stirlingshire, Scotland, UK
Died: 1972-02-19
Known For: Production
Biography
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.
Filmography
2025
- The New Generation ... (Producer)
2024
- A Return to Memory as Self (archive sound)
1990
- Creative Process: Norman McLaren as Self
1973
- Grierson as Self (archive footage)
1965
- Health of a City ... (Associate Producer)
1962
- Heart of Scotland ... (Treatment)
1960
- Seawards the Great Ships ... (Screenplay)
1959
- John Grierson as Himself
1958
- Rivers at Work as Narrator
1954
- Devil on Horseback ... (Producer)
1953
- Man of Africa ... (Producer)
- The Oracle ... (Executive Producer)
1952
- Miss Robin Hood ... (Executive Producer)
- The Brave Don't Cry ... (Executive Producer)
- You're Only Young Twice! ... (Executive Producer)
1950
- Four Men in Prison ... (Producer)
1938
- North Sea ... (Executive Producer)
- The Face of Scotland as John Knox (voice)
1937
- Trade Tattoo ... (Producer)
- Daily Round ... (Producer)
- Children at School ... (Producer)
- The Smoke Menace ... (Producer)
- A Job in a Million ... (Producer)
1936
- Night Mail as Commentary
1935
- Coal Face ... (Producer)
- BBC: The Voice of Britain ... (Producer)
- A Colour Box ... (Producer)
- On the Fishing Banks of Skye as Narrator
- Droitwich: The World's Most Modern Long Wave Transmitter ... (Producer)
1934
- Granton Trawler ... (Director of Photography)
- Post-Haste ... (Producer)
- The Song of Ceylon ... (Producer)
- 6.30 Collection ... (Producer)
- Weather Forecast ... (Producer)
1933
- Spring on the Farm ... (Producer)
- The Coming of the Dial ... (Producer)
- Cable Ship ... (Producer)
1932
- Upstream ... (Producer)
- O'er Hill and Dale ... (Producer)
1931
- Industrial Britain ... (Producer)
1930
- Tom Mixup ... (Director)
- Kuster Beaton ... (Director)
- Conquest ... (Producer)
- Kerri Cheertum in Jungle-Tungle ... (Director)
- Herlock Sholmes in Be-a-Live-Crook ... (Director)
- Our Dumb Friend ... (Director)
1929
- Drifters ... (Editor)