Drifters

The only film John Grierson directed himself, made for the Empire Marketing Board at the birth of the British documentary movement. It follows a North Sea herring fleet from port to fishing grounds to the market where the catch is sold — an ordinary industry turned into an epic through montage borrowed from Eisenstein and underwater photography that still looks remarkable. Grierson, who coined the word "documentary," made the film to argue that cinema could dignify everyday work. The film is in the public domain.