John Grierson

Known for ProductionBorn 1898-04-26Died 1972-02-19Kilmadock, Stirlingshire, Scotland, UK

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.Read more

Movies & web series

A Job in a Million

Our Dumb Friend

Kuster Beaton

Herlock Sholmes in Be-a-Live-Crook

Miss Robin Hood

Grierson

Seawards the Great Ships

Creative Process: Norman McLaren

Man of Africa

The Face of Scotland

Tom Mixup

Kerri Cheertum in Jungle-Tungle

I Remember, I Remember

You're Only Young Twice!

Coal Face

The Song of Ceylon

The Brave Don't Cry

Night Mail

Devil on Horseback

The Oracle

Trade Tattoo

North Sea

A Colour Box

Drifters

Industrial Britain

Post-Haste

Granton Trawler

6.30 Collection

The New Generation

A Return to Memory

Documenting John Grierson

Health of a City

Heart of Scotland

John Grierson

Rivers at Work

Four Men in Prison

Daily Round

The Smoke Menace

Children at School

On the Fishing Banks of Skye

BBC: The Voice of Britain

Droitwich: The World's Most Modern Long Wave Transmitter

Weather Forecast

Cable Ship

The Coming of the Dial

Spring on the Farm

O'er Hill and Dale

Upstream