John Grierson

John Grierson was the founding architect of the modern documentary movement. In a 1926 review of Robert Flaherty's film Moana, Grierson coined the term "documentary," defining it as "the creative treatment of actuality." In 1938, the Canadian government invited him to survey its film activities, resulting in his drafting the National Film Act and creating the National Film Board (NFB) in 1939.

As Canada's first Government Film Commissioner during World War II, Grierson built the NFB into the world's premier documentary and animation studio, charging it to "interpret Canada to Canadians and to the world."