Frederick Wiseman
Frederick Wiseman is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and theatre director. Documentarian Frederick Wiseman has been noted for his ability to capture the nuances of life in American institutions such as prisons, hospitals, welfare offices, and high schools. He started out in 1963 by producing a fictional feature film, The Cool World, an examination of the lives of Harlem teenagers. In the beginning, Wiseman was a staunch social reformist, and his films were calls for change. Titicut Follies, his first documentary, is an exposé of life in a prison for the criminally insane in Bridgewater, MA. It was controversial and left Wiseman with the reputation of being a muckraker. His four subsequent documentaries were all exposés of other tax-supported institutions designed to show the ineffectiveness of the bureaucracy that not only threatens to destroy them, but also dehumanizes the people they were meant to serve. Wiseman toned down his message and began focusing more on American culture to point out the symbolism of daily activities in his film Primate (1974). In the ‘80s, he began examining institutions as they relate to ideology. Unlike other documentaries, Wiseman’s work does not progress chronologically; rather, the segments are arranged thematically, like an essay, and are linked via rhetorical devices such as comparison and contrast to create a patterned structure. His films are never narrated, thereby forcing viewers to make connections between the sequences themselves. Wiseman has occasionally returned to fictional films, albeit in a non-fiction performance style, as with Seraphita’s Diary (1982) and La Derniere Lettre (2002).
Titicut Follies
(Director)
High School
(Director)
In Jackson Heights
(Producer)
La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet
(Director)
Central Park
(Director)
Welfare
(Director)
Welfare
(Producer)
Welfare
(Editor)
Belfast, Maine
(Director)
Missile
(Director)
The Last Letter
(Director)
The Store
(Director)
Haiku
(Director)
Blind
(Director)
Law and Order
(Director)
Adjustment & Work
(Director)
Basic Training
(Director)
Hospital
(Director)
Essene
(Director)
Juvenile Court
(Director)
Manoeuvre
(Director)
Meat
(Director)
Model
(Director)
Multi-Handicapped
(Director)
Primate
(Director)
Public Housing
(Director)
Racetrack
(Director)
State Legislature
(Director)
Canal Zone
(Director)
Deaf
(Director)
Domestic Violence
(Director)
The Last Letter
(Writer)
Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros
(Editor)
Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros
(Producer)
Seraphita's Diary
(Director)
Domestic Violence 2
(Director)
A Couple
(Director)
I Miss Sonia Henie
(Director)
Ballet
(Director)
Domestic Violence
(Producer)
Domestic Violence
(Editor)
La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué
(Director)
Sinai Field Mission
(Director)
The Garden
(Director)
Belfast, Maine
(Editor)
Belfast, Maine
(Producer)
A Couple
(Writer)
A Couple
(Editor)
The Cool World
(Producer)
In Jackson Heights
(Director)
In Jackson Heights
(Sound Director)
In Jackson Heights
(Editor)
The Store
(Producer)
The Store
(Editor)
Ballet
(Producer)
Ballet
(Editor)
La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué
(Editor)
La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué
(Producer)
Public Housing
(Producer)
Public Housing
(Editor)
Domestic Violence 2
(Producer)
Domestic Violence 2
(Editor)
State Legislature
(Editor)
State Legislature
(Producer)
Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros
(Writer)
La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet
(Writer)
La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet
(Editor)
La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet
(Sound Director)
Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros
(Director)
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
(Director)
Titicut Follies
(Writer)
Titicut Follies
(Editor)
Titicut Follies
(Producer)
High School
(Producer)
High School
(Editor)
High School
(Writer)
Law and Order
(Editor)
Law and Order
(Producer)
Hospital
(Producer)
Hospital
(Editor)
Basic Training
(Writer)
Basic Training
(Producer)
Basic Training
(Editor)
Essene
(Writer)
Essene
(Producer)
Essene
(Editor)
Juvenile Court
(Producer)
Juvenile Court
(Editor)
Primate
(Producer)
Primate
(Editor)
Meat
(Producer)
Meat
(Editor)
Sinai Field Mission
(Editor)
Sinai Field Mission
(Producer)
Canal Zone
(Writer)
Canal Zone
(Editor)
Canal Zone
(Producer)
Manoeuvre
(Editor)
Manoeuvre
(Producer)
Model
(Editor)
Model
(Producer)
Racetrack
(Editor)
Racetrack
(Producer)
Blind
(Producer)
Blind
(Editor)
Deaf
(Editor)
Deaf
(Producer)
Adjustment & Work
(Producer)
Adjustment & Work
(Editor)
Multi-Handicapped
(Producer)
Multi-Handicapped
(Editor)
Missile
(Producer)
Missile
(Editor)
Central Park
(Editor)
Central Park
(Producer)
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
(Editor)
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
(Producer)
Monrovia, Indiana
(Director)
Monrovia, Indiana
(Producer)
Monrovia, Indiana
(Editor)
Monrovia, Indiana
(Sound)
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
(Sound)
Law and Order
(Writer)
City Hall
(Director)
City Hall
(Editor)
City Hall
(Producer)
Near Death
(Director)
Near Death
(Producer)
Near Death
(Editor)
Aspen
(Producer)
Aspen
(Director)
Aspen
(Editor)
Zoo
(Director)
Zoo
(Producer)
Zoo
(Editor)
Zoo
(Sound)
High School II
(Director)
High School II
(Editor)
Boxing Gym
(Director)
Boxing Gym
(Editor)
Boxing Gym
(Sound)
Crazy Horse
(Director)
Crazy Horse
(Producer)
Crazy Horse
(Editor)
At Berkeley
(Sound)
At Berkeley
(Editor)
At Berkeley
(Producer)
At Berkeley
(Director)
National Gallery
(Director)
National Gallery
(Writer)
National Gallery
(Producer)
National Gallery
(Editor)
National Gallery
(Sound)