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  • BIRTH 01/01/1930
  • Country United States
  • SHOW 1
  • MOVIES 4
  • DIRECTOR 40
  • SCRIPT 11
  • PRODUCTION 36

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).

Frederick Wiseman

Show

Thanksgiving (2019)
Thanksgiving (2019)
John

Movies (4)

Jane Austen a gâché ma vie
Jane Austen a gâché ma vie
Poète
Les Enfants des autres
Les Enfants des autres
Dr. Wiseman
À mon seul désir
À mon seul désir
Le client du printemps
Les Estivants
Les Estivants
CNC Commission member

Director (40)

Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros
Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros
Law and Order
Law and Order
High School
High School
Hospital
Hospital
Public Housing
Public Housing
Racetrack
Racetrack
Meat
Meat
Canal Zone
Canal Zone
Sinai Field Mission
Sinai Field Mission
Manoeuvre
Manoeuvre
Model
Model
City Hall
City Hall
Monrovia, Indiana
Monrovia, Indiana
Missile
Missile
Near Death
Near Death
Aspen
Aspen
Un Couple
Un Couple
High School II
High School II
Ballet
Ballet
La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué
La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué
Primate
Primate
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Essene
Essene
Central Park
Central Park
La danse - Le ballet de L'Opéra de Paris
La danse - Le ballet de L'Opéra de Paris
Titicut Follies
Titicut Follies
At Berkeley
At Berkeley
National Gallery
National Gallery
In Jackson Heights
In Jackson Heights
Basic Training
Basic Training
The Store
The Store
Boxing Gym
Boxing Gym
Juvenile Court
Juvenile Court
Welfare
Welfare
Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence
La dernière lettre
La dernière lettre
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Deaf
Deaf
Multi-Handicapped
Multi-Handicapped
Adjustment & Work
Adjustment & Work

Script (11)

Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros
Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros
Law and Order
Law and Order
High School
High School
La danse - Le ballet de L'Opéra de Paris
La danse - Le ballet de L'Opéra de Paris
Titicut Follies
Titicut Follies
National Gallery
National Gallery
Basic Training
Basic Training
La dernière lettre
La dernière lettre
Essene
Essene
Canal Zone
Canal Zone
Un Couple
Un Couple

Production (36)

Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros
Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros
Law and Order
Law and Order
High School
High School
Public Housing
Public Housing
Hospital
Hospital
At Berkeley
At Berkeley
Sinai Field Mission
Sinai Field Mission
Manoeuvre
Manoeuvre
Model
Model
Racetrack
Racetrack
Monrovia, Indiana
Monrovia, Indiana
Missile
Missile
City Hall
City Hall
Meat
Meat
The Cool World
The Cool World
Near Death
Near Death
Aspen
Aspen
Ballet
Ballet
La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué
La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué
Canal Zone
Canal Zone
Essene
Essene
Primate
Primate
National Gallery
National Gallery
Titicut Follies
Titicut Follies
Adjustment & Work
Adjustment & Work
Multi-Handicapped
Multi-Handicapped
Deaf
Deaf
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence
Welfare
Welfare
Juvenile Court
Juvenile Court
The Store
The Store
Central Park
Central Park
Basic Training
Basic Training
In Jackson Heights
In Jackson Heights
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse