Director

John Grierson

Production

Career Snapshot

Explained

These indicators come from TMDB. They are relative signals, not review ratings.

Directed credits

Emerging

Beginning to build directing work.

TMDB popularity

0.2

Low visibility

TMDB internal trend index. Higher usually means more searches and page activity now.

Directed movies: 4Directed series: 0All crew credits: 25

TMDB ID: 1086468

IMDb ID: nm0340961

Known for: Production

Born: April 26, 1898

Died: February 19, 1972

Age: 73

Place of birth: Kilmadock, Stirlingshire, Scotland, UK

Gender: Male

Adult content flag: No

Career span: 1929 - 2025

Years active: 97

Average TMDB rating: 6

Wikidata: Q1700285

Also known as

约翰·格里尔逊

Frequent jobs

Director (3)Director of Photography (1)Producer (14)Executive Producer (5)Editor (1)Screenplay (1)

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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.