Frederick Wiseman: On Documentary

September 13–October 12, 2018

BAMPFA is honored by a visit from Wiseman, whose incisive, wide-ranging explorations of complex institutions have set a standard for nonfiction filmmaking.

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  • La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet

  • High School

  • Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

  • Belfast, Maine

  • Upcoming
    Films
  • Upcoming
    Events
  • Selected
    Objects
  • Past
    Films
  • Past
    Events

Past Films

  • Still from the film 'At Berkeley' (Frederick Wiseman, 2013). A diverse group of college students sit in an auditorium during a class lecture.

    At Berkeley

    • Friday, October 12 12 PM
    Frederick Wiseman
    United States, 2013

    This study of the University—which clocks in at more than four hours—presents the complexities of the campus from multiple angles and is "a summation of sorts of Frederick Wiseman’s exceptional career” (Variety).

  • Belfast, Maine

    • Sunday, September 30 2 PM
    Frederick Wiseman
    United States, 1999

    A beautiful portrait of ordinary life in a New England port town, Belfast, Maine is “an immensely rich and immeasurably valuable microcosm of American life at the end of the twentieth century [and] a microcosm of Wiseman’s art” (The Nation). 

  • High School

    • Friday, September 28 3:30 PM
    Frederick Wiseman
    United States, 1969

    Wiseman’s documentary on a large urban high school in Philadelphia got to the core of American conformity and conditioning; seen as an antiestablishment indictment in the Vietnam War era, it has only gained resonance with age.

    Frederick Wiseman in Person

  • An Evening with Frederick Wiseman

    • Thursday, September 27 7 PM

    In this lecture illustrated with clips from his films, Wiseman talks about the intellectual, aesthetic, and practical decisions involved in making a documentary. Don’t miss this chance to hear a great filmmaker speak in depth about his work.

    Frederick Wiseman and Michael Fox in Conversation

  • Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

    • Saturday, September 22 2 PM
    Frederick Wiseman
    United States, 2017

    Wiseman’s latest documentary provides welcome confirmation of the survival of intelligent life in discouraging times, following the work behind and beyond the books at the New York Public Library.

  • La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet

    • Thursday, September 13 7 PM
    • Friday, September 21 3:30 PM
    Frederick Wiseman
    France, United States, 2009

    Wiseman “haunts the stairways, rehearsal rooms, and watery subterranean corridors of the Palais Garnier. . . . It’s a joyous experience to see an institution in full flower” (New Yorker).