
Frederick Wiseman
Biography
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).
Acting (6 movies)
Directing (49 movies)

Titicut Follies
1967

High School
1969

La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet
2009

Central Park
1990

Welfare
1975

Belfast, Maine
1999

Missile
1988

The Last Letter
2002

The Store
1983

Haiku
2009

Blind
1986

Law and Order
1969

Adjustment & Work
1986

Model
1981

Juvenile Court
1973

Primate
1974

State Legislature
2007

Essene
1972

Domestic Violence
2001

Basic Training
1971

Hospital
1970

Racetrack
1985

Canal Zone
1977

Manoeuvre
1979

Deaf
1986

Meat
1976

Public Housing
1997

Multi-Handicapped
1986

Seraphita's Diary
1982

Domestic Violence 2
2002

A Couple
2022

I Miss Sonia Henie
1971

Ballet
1995

La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué
1996

Sinai Field Mission
1978

The Garden
2005

In Jackson Heights
2015

Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros
2023

Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
2017

Monrovia, Indiana
2018

City Hall
2020

Near Death
1989

Aspen
1991

High School II
1994

Boxing Gym
2010

Zoo
1993

National Gallery
2014

At Berkeley
2013

Crazy Horse
2011
| Title | Year | Job | 
|---|---|---|
| The Cool World | 1963 | Producer | 
| Titicut Follies | 1967 | Writer | 
| Titicut Follies | 1967 | Producer | 
| Law and Order | 1969 | Producer | 
| Law and Order | 1969 | Writer | 
| High School | 1969 | Producer | 
| High School | 1969 | Writer | 
| Hospital | 1970 | Producer | 
| Basic Training | 1971 | Producer | 
| Basic Training | 1971 | Writer | 
| Essene | 1972 | Writer | 
| Essene | 1972 | Producer | 
| Juvenile Court | 1973 | Producer | 
| Primate | 1974 | Producer | 
| Welfare | 1975 | Producer | 
| Meat | 1976 | Producer | 
| Canal Zone | 1977 | Producer | 
| Canal Zone | 1977 | Writer | 
| Sinai Field Mission | 1978 | Producer | 
| Manoeuvre | 1979 | Producer | 
| Model | 1981 | Producer | 
| The Store | 1983 | Producer | 
| Racetrack | 1985 | Producer | 
| Blind | 1986 | Producer | 
| Deaf | 1986 | Producer | 
| Adjustment & Work | 1986 | Producer | 
| Multi-Handicapped | 1986 | Producer | 
| Missile | 1988 | Producer | 
| Near Death | 1989 | Producer | 
| Central Park | 1990 | Producer | 
| Aspen | 1991 | Producer | 
| Zoo | 1993 | Producer | 
| Ballet | 1995 | Producer | 
| La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué | 1996 | Producer | 
| Public Housing | 1997 | Producer | 
| Belfast, Maine | 1999 | Producer | 
| Domestic Violence | 2001 | Producer | 
| Domestic Violence 2 | 2002 | Producer | 
| State Legislature | 2007 | Producer | 
| La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet | 2009 | Writer | 
| La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet | 2009 | Producer | 
| Crazy Horse | 2011 | Producer | 
| At Berkeley | 2013 | Producer | 
| National Gallery | 2014 | Writer | 
| National Gallery | 2014 | Producer | 
| In Jackson Heights | 2015 | Producer | 
| Ex Libris: The New York Public Library | 2017 | Producer | 
| Monrovia, Indiana | 2018 | Producer | 
| City Hall | 2020 | Producer | 
| A Couple | 2022 | Writer | 
| Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros | 2023 | Producer | 
| Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros | 2023 | Writer | 





