ROBERT FLAHERTY LOOK AGAIN is a new film that tells the story of two great artists and the clash of expectations. The 30-minute documentary features features two talents, who in 1944 made a film together, filmmaker Robert Flaherty and the Newport artist John Howard Benson. The original Flaherty footage was lost for decades. The new documentary is a passion project from filmmaker Rebecca Miller, who found the original never-before-seen Flaherty footage when she was a student at Rhode Island School of Design. ROBERT FLAHERTY LOOK AGAIN takes a surprising high-impact approach to archival storytelling.
The 30+ minute film, available in the summer of 2025, was created by director Rebecca Miller, from production company Optik Nerve, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts. The program was produced with the assistance of Rhode Island School of Design.
ROBERT FLAHERTY LOOK AGAIN: THE JOHN HOWARD BENSON FILM
is available for viewing under the media + contacts page.
Future public viewings will be listed here.
Our new documentary examines the approaches of the two artists, Flaherty and Benson, to their work: the scripted, the ungoverned, the planned, and the spontaneous. It becomes clear the two artists had their own vision for the project, and we examine how these ideas diverged. The documentary, ROBERT FLAHERTY LOOK AGAIN, includes interviews conducted in 1978 with principals—Richard Leacock, Mrs. John Howard Benson and others, as well as interviews conducted in 2025, correspondence gathered between the principals, a wealth of rare photography, and the original film material recorded in 1944 by Flaherty.
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Producer, Director, Designer, Editor, Writer
From the first discovery of the Flaherty film materials in 1976 until today, Rebecca Miller has lived with this project for almost 50 years. She took on the challenge to make ROBERT FLAHERTY LOOK AGAIN to breath new life and new vision into the Flaherty-Benson story. No one knew more about the history of this orphan Flaherty project, no one would be a better filmmaker to tell this story, no one else had the passion.
The visual material she gathered was significant: Flaherty footage, Flaherty footage with exposed sprocket holes, interviews recorded in 1978, the Benson family archive of photographs, over 800 pages of correspondence between the principals, interviews conducted in 2025, still photographs of Robert Flaherty from archives and museums, and newspaper clippings.
What makes this film compelling? This one has a great backstory and it's told with style.
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Established talents and surprising newcomers. Who are the talents behind the new film?
