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Frederick Wiseman

Regisseur

Films

Ex Libris : The New York Public Library

Ex Libris : The New York Public Library

Door Frederick Wiseman

2016 | 197 min | Documentaire

Frederick Wiseman casts a documentarian's look within the walls of the New York Public Library. Frederick Wiseman’s film goes behind the scenes of one of the greatest knowledge institutions in the world and reveals it as a place of welcome, cultural exchange and learning. With 92 locations throughout Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, the library is committed to being a resource for all the inhabitants of this multifaceted and cosmopolitan city, and beyond. The New York Public Library exemplifies ...

Domestic Violence 2

Domestic Violence 2

Door Frederick Wiseman

2002 | 196 min | Documentaire

In the arraignment, misdemeanor and injunction courts in Tampa (FL) lawyers elicit the stories of couples' relationships and the forms of violence between them. The film takes place in the arraignment, misdemeanor, and injunction courts in Hillsborough County, Tampa, Florida. The courts deal with issues such as bail bonds, release pending trial, the specific context of injunctions regulating time and place of parental visits, restraining orders, contact with children, support payments, and the court's ...

Public Housing

Public Housing

Door Frederick Wiseman

1997 | 195 min | Documentaire

The film documents daily life at the Ida B. Wells public housing development in Chicago. The film illustrates some of the experiences of people living in conditions of extreme poverty. Events shows include the work of the tenants council, street life, the role of police, job training programs, drug education, teenage mothers, dysfunctional families, elderly residents, nursery school and after school teenage programs and the activities of the city, state and federal governments in maintaining and ...

The Last Letter

The Last Letter

Door Frederick Wiseman

2001 | 61 min | Documentaire

The last letter (La dernière lettre) is based on a chapter of Vasily Grossman’s novel Life and Fate. It is 1941. A Ukrainian ghetto has fallen to the Nazis and all of its Jewish residents are slated to be murdered. In the midst of the impending horror, the town’s physician, a woman named Anna Semionova, dictates one final letter to her son, who is safe outside of enemy lines. The letter, with its detailed observations of daily life in a ghetto, reveals the fear, courage, frailty, compassion and dignity ...

La Comédie-Française

La Comédie-Française

Door Frederick Wiseman

1996 | 223 min | Documentaire

La Comédie-Française is the oldest continuous repertory company in the world, founded in Paris in the late 17th century. This is the first time a documentary film-maker has been allowed to look at all the aspects of the work of this great theatrical company. Sequences in the film include sections of plays, casting, set and costume design, administrative meetings and rehearsals and performances of four classic French plays, Don Juan by Molière, La Thebaide by Racine, La Double Inconstance by Marivaux ...

Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence

Door Frederick Wiseman

2001 | 196 min | Documentaire

The film shows the Tampa (FL police responding to domestic violence calls and the work of 'The Spring', the principal shelter in Tampa for women and children. Domestic Violence shows the Tampa, Florida, police responding to domestic violence calls and the work of The Spring, the principal shelter in Tampa for women and children. Sequences with the police include police response, intervention, and attempted resolution of domestic violence calls. Sequences at the shelter include intake interviews, ...

Ballet

Ballet

Door Frederick Wiseman

1995 | 170 min | Documentaire

The film presents the American Ballet Theatre in rehearsal in their New York studio and on tour in Athens and Copenhagen. Ballet is a profile of the American Ballet Theatre, an important classical ballet company. The film presents the company in rehearsal in their New York studio and on tour in Athens and Copenhagen. Choreographers, ballet masters and mistresses are shown at work with principal dancers, soloists and the corps de ballet. Other sequences involve the administration and fundraising ...

State Legislature

State Legislature

Door Frederick Wiseman

2007 | 217 min | Documentaire

The film shows the day-to-day activities of the Idaho Legislature during an entire session. Lobbyists, lawmakers and their constituents are seen debating and discussing the concerns of the electorate, on issues that range from violence in schools, mad cow disease and video voyeurism to illegal immigration, secondhand smoke and the deregulation of telephone rates. The film is an example of the achievements, values, constraints and limitations of the democratic process.

Hospital

Hospital

Door Frederick Wiseman

1970 | 84 min | Documentaire

A look at life in a large urban hospital, detailing daily activities with his main focus on the emergency ward and outpatient clinic.

Primate

Primate

Door Frederick Wiseman

1974 | 105 min | Documentaire

Daily activities at the Yerkes Primate Research Center. Scientists are seen studying the physical and mental development of primates through experiments. This film presents daily activities at the Yerkes Primate Research Center. Scientists are seen studying the physical and mental development of primates through experiments dealing with the behavioral effects of drugs and alcohol; the capacity to learn, remember, and apply language and manual skills; control of aggressive and sexual behavior; and ...

Essene

Essene

Door Frederick Wiseman

1972 | 86 min | Documentaire

Daily life inside a Benedictine monastery. The resolution of conflict between personal needs and the institutional, organizational priorities of the community. Daily life inside a Benedictine monastery. The 86-minute documentary explores the resolution of conflict between personal needs and the institutional, organizational priorities of the community. In the Order, where the focus of life is the relationship of individual work and worship to the community as a whole, the brethren must cope with ...

Basic Training

Basic Training

Door Frederick Wiseman

1971 | 80 min | Documentaire

Shot in 1970, Basic Training follows a company of U.S. Army draftees and volunteers as they go through initial military training at Fort Knox in Kentucky.

Manœuvre

Manœuvre

Door Frederick Wiseman

1979 | 115 min | Documentaire

Manoeuvre follows a U.S. infantry tank company through NATO’s annual fall manoeuvres in Western Europe. One purpose of these war games is to test how quickly and effectively U.S. reinforcements can come to the aid of NATO forces stationed in Europe. The various stages of the training exercise, including defensive and offensive tactics, and hypothetical wins and losses are seen from the point of view of a company fighting a simulated, conventional, non-nuclear ground and air war.

Law and Order

Law and Order

Door Frederick Wiseman

1969 | 81 min | Documentaire

This series of vignettes focuses on the day-to-day work of Kansas City's police maintaining order, enforcing the law, and providing general social services.

Canal Zone

Canal Zone

Door Frederick Wiseman

1977 | 174 min | Documentaire

The routines of U.S. residents who live and work in the Panama Canal Zone and shows both the operation of the Canal and the various governmental agencies. Canal Zone is about the people who live and work in the Panama Canal Zone and shows both the operation of the Canal and the various governmental agencies — business, military, and civilian — related to the functioning of the Canal and the lives of the Americans in the zone. The film includes sequences of ships in transit, the work of special canal ...

High School

High School

Door Frederick Wiseman

1968 | 75 min | Documentaire

A stinging critique of the American educational system, with a focus on the overwhelming, institutionalized sense of boredom and resignation. Wiseman also exposes the constant, pointless antagonism between students and faculty, who often seem more intent on maintaining their authority than treating their students as human beings or, for that matter, educating them. Though made in the late 1960s, the political issues of the day, from Vietnam to racism, only make glancing appearances in the film, which ...

Sinaï field mission

Sinaï field mission

Door Frederick Wiseman

1978 | 127 min | Documentaire

Sinai field mission shows the routine activities of the diplomats and electronics technicians who operate the U.S. Sinai Field Mission, the early warning system established in 1976 to help facilitate the disengagement between Egypt and Israel after the 1973 war. The major purpose of the Mission is to monitor the approaches to strategic passes and to verify the operations of the Egyptian and Israeli surveillance stations in the Sinai Buffer Zone.

Juvenile court

Juvenile court

Door Frederick Wiseman

1973 | 144 min | Documentaire

The complex variety of cases before the Memphis Juvenile Court: foster home placement, drug abuse, armed robbery, child abuse, and sexual offenses. Juvenile Court shows the complex variety of cases before the Memphis Juvenile Court: foster home placement, drug abuse, armed robbery, child abuse, and sexual offenses. The sequences illustrate such issues as community protection vs. the desire for rehabilitation, the range and the limits of the choices available to the court, the psychology of the offender, ...

Welfare

Welfare

Door Frederick Wiseman

1975 | 167 min | Documentaire

In-depth look at the nature and complexity of the welfare system in the United States. Acclaimed documentarian Frederick Wiseman examines a wide diversity of welfare-related situations. Areas covered include unemployment, housing, divorce, medical and psychiatric problems, concerns of the elderly, child abuse, and abandoned children. Both welfare workers and clients are seen struggling to interpret the laws, rules and regulations that govern their work and lives.

Aspen

Aspen

Door Frederick Wiseman

1991 | 142 min | Documentaire

Aspen is a film about a town famous for silver mining and scenic splendor, mountains, skiing, hiking, music, intellectual activity and fashionable people. Aspen is a film about a town famous in the 19th century for silver mining and now known for its scenic splendor, mountains, skiing, hiking, music, intellectual activity and fashionable people. The film documents the daily life and activities of the people who live, work, visit and play in Aspen in the winter.

High School 2

High School 2

Door Frederick Wiseman

1994 | 214 min | Documentaire

'High School II' is a film about Central Park East Secondary School (CPESS), a successful alternative high school in New York's Spanish Harlem, 85-95% of whose graduates go on to four year colleges. The film illustrates the school's emphasis on the “Habits of Mind” program (weighing evidence; awareness of multiple points of view; seeing connections and relationships; speculating on possibilities; and assessing values.) Sequences illustrating the school's approach to learning include: classroom activities ...

Central Park

Central Park

Door Frederick Wiseman

1989 | 169 min | Documentaire

'Central Park' is a film about the famous New York City landmark and the variety of ways in which people make use of it: running, boating, walking, skating, music, theatre, sports, picnics, parades and concerts. The film also illustrates the complex problems the New York City Parks Department deals with in order to maintain and preserve the park and keep it open and accessible to the public.

Racetrack

Racetrack

Door Frederick Wiseman

1985 | 114 min | Documentaire

A part of the MoMA's collection, this documentary shows the horse racetrack of Belmont, which is one of the most important in the world.

Deaf

Deaf

Door Frederick Wiseman

1986 | 158 min | Documentaire

The School for the Deaf at the Alabama Institute is organized around a theory of total communication i.e. the use of signs and finger spelling in conjunction with speech, hearing aids, lip reading, gestures and the written word. The film shows sequences dealing with various aspects of this comprehensive training such as teaching students and parents to sign; speech therapy; psychological counseling; regular academic courses; vocational training; disciplinary problems; parents visits; sports and recreational ...

Adjustment and Work

Adjustment and Work

Door Frederick Wiseman

1986 | 115 min | Documentaire

The film shows, in sequences, the adjustment services for adults in personal and work situations as they learn to adjust to their impairments. The first part of this film takes place at the E.H. Gentry Technical Facility which provides evaluation and personal adjustment services to sensory impaired adults and also functions as a vocational training center offering technical instruction in 15 career areas such as business, printing, home economics, food services, and computer sciences. Sequences ...

Model

Model

Door Frederick Wiseman

1980 | 129 min | Documentaire

Frederick Wiseman’s classic documentary that profiles the inner world of a modeling agency in the 1980s.

Near Death

Near Death

Door Frederick Wiseman

1989 | 358 min | Documentaire

'Near Death' is a film about the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital. The film is concerned with how people face death. More specifically the film presents the complex interrelationships among patients, families, doctors, nurses, hospital staff and religious advisors as they confront the personal, ethical, medical, psychological, religious and legal issues involved in making decisions about whether or not to give life-sustaining treatment to dying patients.

Multi-Handicapped

Multi-Handicapped

Door Frederick Wiseman

1986 | 121 min | Documentaire

This film shows the activities of multi-handicapped and sensory impaired students and their teachers, dorm parents, and counselors at the H. Keller School. This film shows the day to day activities of multi-handicapped and sensory impaired students and their teachers, dormitory parents, and counselors at the Helen Keller School. The primary mission of the school is to meet the total and living needs of deaf and/or blind children, some of whom also have other disabilities. The film presents situations ...

Missile

Missile

Door Frederick Wiseman

1987 | 110 min | Documentaire

'Missile' follows a Squadron of the Strategic Air Command, where officers are trained to man Launch Control Centers for Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. 'Missile' follows the 4315th Training Squadron of the Strategic Air Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where Air Force officers are trained to man the Launch Control Centers for the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Sequences include discussion of the moral and military issues of nuclear war; the arming, targeting ...