Nanook of the North, released in 1922, was directed by Robert J. Flaherty, who spent 1920 and 1921 filming in Inukjuak in northern Quebec, now Nunavik. Flaherty chose the hunter Allakariallak as his star and filmed him hunting walrus, building an igloo and travelling across the tundra. Many scenes were scripted, and the family members were chosen for their appearance rather than being related to Allakariallak. The film is often called the first feature-length documentary, though its staged scenes were a deliberate choice. Flaherty had earlier lost a year's footage in a fire, and his camera equipment and expedition were funded by a fur company. Critics have since argued the film presented a fantasy of an unchanging Arctic, while Indigenous filmmakers have pointed to its lasting harm.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.