mdblist.com logo The Best Frederick Wiseman Directed Movies


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poster
85
7.7
/699/
72
/33/
71
/13/
4.0
/4847/
100
/52/
89
/8/
92
/18/

Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros (2023)
Founded in 1930, Troisgros has held three Michelin stars for 55 years. The children of the fourth generation, Marie-Pierre and Michel's sons are continuing the family business: César runs the Michelin-starred restaurant, "Le Bois sans feuilles" ("The Leafless Wood"), and Léo is in charge of one of the other two Troisgros restaurants, "La Colline du colombier" ("The Dovecote Hill"). From the daily market to the cheese maturing cellars, via the vineyard, the cattle farm and the vegetable garden adjacent to the restaurant, Menus-Plaisirs is an intimate, sensory journey through the kitchens of one of the world's most prestigious restaurants.
poster
Kanopy
82
7.7
/5548/
72
/173/
73
/134/
4.0
/12635/
100
/12/
89
/91/

Titicut Follies (1967)
A stark and graphic portrayal of the conditions that existed at the State Prison for the Criminally Insane at Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and documents the various ways the inmates are treated by the guards, social workers, and psychiatrists.
poster
Kanopy
81
7.3
/1780/
72
/53/
73
/44/
3.9
/3381/
95
/66/
71
/2136/
89
/22/

National Gallery (2014)
A portrait of the day-to-day operations of the National Gallery of London, that reveals the role of the employees and the experiences of the Gallery's visitors. The film portrays the role of the curators and conservators; the education, scientific, and conservation departments; and the audience of all kinds of people who come to experience it.
poster
Kanopy
79
7.4
/787/
70
/43/
64
/14/
3.9
/3370/
98
/64/
67
/2/
88
/17/

City Hall (2020)
An epic look at Boston’s city government, covering racial justice, housing, climate action, and more.
poster
Kanopy
78
7.2
/800/
67
/41/
66
/26/
4.0
/2330/
96
/52/
79
/3/

In Jackson Heights (2015)
Legendary documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman (At Berkeley, National Gallery) explores the culture, politics and daily life of the Queens, NYC district of Jackson Heights, which lays claim to being the most diverse neighbourhood in the world.
poster
Kanopy
77
7.4
/1532/
77
/70/
64
/65/
4.0
/4517/
97
/70/
59
/12/
91
/23/

Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017)
A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.
poster
Kanopy
77
7.2
/757/
75
/22/
67
/27/
3.9
/2120/
87
/54/
72
/541/
81
/20/

At Berkeley (2013)
Direct cinema pioneer Frederick Wiseman takes an in-depth look at the preeminent American university during a fall semester that saw a vigorous debate taking place over tuition hikes, budget cuts, and the future of higher education in the United States.
poster
Kanopy
75
7.0
/710/
78
/25/
62
/21/
3.8
/2361/
85
/62/
56
/8/

Monrovia, Indiana (2018)
Monrovia, Indiana explores a small town in rural, mid-America and illustrates how values like community service, duty, spiritual life, generosity, and authenticity are formed, experienced, and lived along with conflicting stereotypes. The film gives a complex and nuanced view of daily life in Monrovia and provides some understanding of a way of life whose influence and force have not always been recognized or understood in the big cities on the east and west coasts of America and in other countries.
poster
Kanopy
68
6.5
/922/
62
/39/
65
/28/
3.6
/1225/
85
/55/
53
/15/
72
/20/

Crazy Horse (2011)
A cinéma vérité look inside Paris' Crazy Horse, a club that boasts the greatest and most chic nude dancing in the world.
poster
Kanopy
79
67
7.5
/2470/
70
/73/
72
/63/
3.9
/11150/
100
/5/
84
/49/

High School (1969)
Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman takes us inside Northeast High School as a fly on the wall to observe the teachers and how they interact with the students.
poster
Kanopy
66
5.5
/216/
37
/7/
69
/4/
2.9
/1539/
85
/33/
74
/13/

A Couple (2022)
"A Couple" is a film about a long term relationship between a man and a woman. The man is Leo Tolstoy. The woman is his wife, Sophia. They were married for 36 years, had 13 children, nine of whom survived. Each kept a diary. Although they lived together, in the same house, they wrote letters frequently to each other. Leo Tolstoy insisted that they read their diaries aloud to guests at dinner parties. The Tolstoy’s were also a dysfunctional couple, arguing frequently and being very unhappy with each other while occasionally enjoying passionate moments of reconciliation. The film is Sophia’s monologue about the joys and struggles of their life together, loosely drawn from their letters to each other and their diary entries.
poster
Kanopy
77
44
7.5
/220/
56
/8/
74
/9/
4.0
/1430/
92
/76/
86
/161/

Central Park (1990)
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.
poster
Kanopy
76
44
7.0
/586/
71
/15/
66
/20/
3.6
/1152/
95
/42/
75
/14/
83
/14/

Boxing Gym (2010)
Explores the world of a boxing gym in Austin, Texas, dwelling on the discipline of training as people from all walks of life aspire to reach their personal best.
poster
Kanopy
74
41
7.2
/715/
62
/11/
76
/18/
3.7
/1023/
87
/54/
74
/28/

La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet (2009)
A film by Frederick Wiseman following the ins and outs of 7 ballets by the Paris Opera Ballet.
poster
Kanopy
73
38
7.6
/488/
76
/14/
69
/18/
3.9
/2595/
70
/35/

Law and Order (1969)
LAW & ORDER surveys the wide range of work the police are asked to perform: enforcing the law, maintaining order, and providing general social services. The incidents shown illustrate how training, community expectations, socio-economic status of the subject, the threat of violence, and discretion affect police behavior.
poster
Kanopy
80
37
8.2
/744/
74
/23/
71
/33/
4.3
/3074/
88
/5/

Welfare (1975)
WELFARE shows the nature and complexity of the welfare system in sequences illustrating the staggering diversity of problems that constitute welfare: housing, unemployment, divorce, medical and psychiatric problems, abandoned and abused children, and the elderly. These issues are presented in a context where welfare workers as well as clients struggle to cope with and interpret the laws and regulations that govern their work and life.
poster
Kanopy
75
32
7.9
/683/
73
/28/
65
/23/
4.1
/3200/
80
/5/

Hospital (1970)
Daily activities of the Metropolitan Hospital in New York City, with emphasis on the emergency ward and outpatient clinics. The cases depicted illustrate how medical expertise, availability of resources, organizational considerations and the nature of communication among the staff and patients affect the delivery of health care.
poster
Kanopy
76
31
7.3
/306/
68
/13/
67
/16/
3.8
/818/
100
/28/

Primate (1974)
Primate sees realist documentarian Frederick Wiseman hone his lens on the inmates of the Yerkes Primate Research Centre. A representative scientist explains the aims and outcomes of the organisation, describing the mating habits and relationships of the animals.
poster
Kanopy
75
30
8.1
/373/
67
/12/
70
/20/
4.1
/1531/

Juvenile Court (1973)
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, and the constitutional and procedural questions involved in administering a juvenile court.
poster
Kanopy
68
27
7.2
/386/
62
/11/
62
/14/
3.9
/1974/

The Store (1983)
THE STORE is a film about the main Neiman-Marcus store and corporate headquarters in Dallas. The sequences in the film include the selection, presentation, marketing, pricing, advertising and selling of a vast array of consumer products including designer clothes and furs, jewelry, perfumes, shoes, electronic products, sportswear, china and porcelain and many other goods. The internal management and organizational aspects of a large corporation are shown, i.e., sales meetings, development of marketing and advertising strategies, training, personnel practices and sales techniques.
poster
Kanopy
78
27
7.9
/372/
60
/10/
64
/9/
4.0
/803/
91
/11/
94
/2/

Domestic Violence (2001)
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, individual counseling sessions, anger management training, group therapy, staff meetings, conversations among clients and between clients and staff, and school activities, therapy, and counseling for children at the shelter.
poster
Kanopy
75
25
7.9
/316/
66
/10/
73
/9/
4.0
/863/
80
/26/

Public Housing (1997)
Public Housing is Wiseman’s unflinching portrayal of life at the Ida B. Wells housing project in Chicago, a raw exposition of the daily conflicts between residents and the bureaucratic machinery to which they are continually subjected. With intimate detail and an abiding dedication to his subject, Wiseman unearths the hidden facets of institutions to find humanity and sites of unexpected beauty.
poster
Kanopy
77
22
8.1
/358/
65
/24/
69
/15/
4.2
/1263/
89
/2/

Belfast, Maine (1999)
BELFAST, MAINE is a film about ordinary experience in a beautiful old New England port city. It is a portrait of daily life with particular emphasis on the work and the cultural life of the community. Among the activities shown in the film are the work of lobstermen, tug-boat operators, factory workers, shop owners, city counselors, doctors, judges, policemen, teachers, social workers, nurses and ministers. Cultural activities include choir rehearsal, dance class, music lessons and theatre production.
poster
Kanopy
76
22
8.3
/313/
70
/15/
70
/15/
4.2
/972/

Near Death (1989)
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.
poster
54
18
5.4
/470/
46
/10/
54
/21/
3.2
/800/

I Miss Sonia Henie (1971)
One camera in one setting, one attic and eight young directors – the result is a unique Dadaistic collage of seven short sketches. The original task for each filmmaker was to keep each short under three minutes, to set it in one hotel room, and to include the sentence “I miss Sonja Henie." This experimental film was shot over a single night at the international film festival FEST in Beograd in 1971.
poster
Kanopy
67
18
7.0
/233/
61
/10/
61
/7/
3.8
/1229/

Model (1981)
MODEL shows male and female models at work on TV commercials, fashion shows, magazine covers, and advertising for a variety of products, including designer collections, fur coats, sports clothes and automobiles. The models are seen at work with photographers whose techniques illustrate different styles of fashion and product photography. The business aspect of running an agency is also shown: interviewing prospective models, career counseling, arranging portfolios, talking with clients, and planning trips. The film presents a view of the intersections of fashion, business, advertising, photography, television and fantasy.
poster
Kanopy
75
17
7.3
/293/
62
/8/
66
/14/
3.7
/1070/
100
/1/

Basic Training (1971)
Shot during the summer of 1970 at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Frederick Wiseman’s film Basic Training focuses on a group of men going through infantry training, showing how they are turned from civilians into soldiers. As well as being a unique portrait of the US army at work, the film is also a fascinating snapshot of a time and place at a defining moment in American history.
poster
Kanopy
61
14
6.8
/236/
56
/6/
72
/4/
3.7
/928/
40
/12/

Essene (1972)
Essene is about daily life in a Benedictine monastery and the resolution of conflict between personal needs and the institutional and 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 the same issues that arise in any community: rules, work, worship, values, love, and play.
poster
Kanopy
60
13
7.1
/142/
35
/2/
61
/8/
3.8
/798/

Aspen (1991)
A former mining town in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, Aspen is now better known as a winter playground for wealthy holidaymakers. Against the majestic landscape, visitors relax while locals toil around them.
poster
Kanopy
67
12
7.5
/174/
51
/8/
66
/11/
3.8
/502/

Blind (1986)
BLIND shows the educational programs and daily life of students in kindergarten through the 12th grade at the Alabama School for the Blind. The School is organized around the effort to educate blind and visually impaired students to be in charge of their own lives. Sequences in the film include mobility training, braille instruction and orientation as well as traditional classroom subjects such as English, history, science and music. Other sequences show psychological counseling sessions; vocational training; staff dealing with student disciplinary problems; and the wide variety of recreational and athletic programs.
poster
Kanopy
75
11
7.4
/240/
71
/5/
82
/6/
3.7
/550/

Meat (1976)
MEAT traces the process through which cattle and sheep become consumer goods. It depicts the processing and transportation of meat products by a highly automated packing plant, illustrating important points and problems in the area of production, transportation, logistics, equipment design, time-motion study, and labor management.
poster
Kanopy
70
11
7.3
/119/
58
/5/
76
/7/
3.7
/575/

Ballet (1995)
Ballet portrays rehearsals, choreography, performances, business transactions, and other day-to-day life of the American Ballet Theatre. Much of the footage dates from the 1992 season. It also includes scenes from the company's European tour, namely in Greece and Copenhagen.
poster
Kanopy
69
11
7.1
/187/
65
/8/
65
/8/
3.7
/553/

Missile (1988)
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 and launching of the missile; codes; communications; protection against terrorist attack; emergency procedures; staff meetings and tutorial sessions.
poster
Kanopy
70
9
7.2
/157/
54
/5/
72
/6/
3.6
/552/
80
/3/

Zoo (1993)
ZOO is a film about the zoo in Miami, Florida, the care and maintenance of the animals by the keepers, the work of the veterinarians and their staff, and the visits to the zoo by people from all over the world. The film presents the wide diversity of interests and activities at the zoo and the interrelatedness of the animal, human, ethical, financial, technical, organizational and research aspects of operating the zoo.
poster
Kanopy
73
?
7.5
/161/
70
/2/
76
/5/
3.6
/327/

State Legislature (2007)
STATE LEGISLATURE 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.
poster
Kanopy
?
6.5
/73/
57
/4/
55
/6/

La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué (1996)
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 and Occupe-toi d'Amelie by Feydeau. (Zipporah Films)
poster
74
?
7.7
/59/
60
/1/
85
/2/
3.7
/243/

The Garden (2005)
A documentary on Madison Square Garden. Filmed in 1997 and prevented from public screening by the operators of Madison Square Garden.
poster
Kanopy
61
?
6.3
/104/
53
/3/
63
/3/
3.4
/250/

Sinai Field Mission (1978)
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.
poster
?
5.5
/38/
35
/2/
55
/2/

Seraphita's Diary (1982)
The story of a famous fashion model who, unable to cope with the fantasies and pressures her beauty induces in others, disappears. The film is a profile of her emotional life and contrasts the fantasies she creates in other people's minds with the strains of her real emotional life as revealed in her diaries.
poster
Kanopy
67
?
7.3
/111/
53
/3/
69
/8/
3.7
/423/

Canal Zone (1977)
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 pilots, aspects of the civil government, work of the military, and the social, religious and recreational life of the Zonians.
poster
Kanopy
67
?
7.4
/142/
70
/1/
52
/6/
3.6
/285/

Domestic Violence 2 (2002)
The opening scene in this film is of an arrest in Hillsborough County Florida where a woman has scratched her husband while he was trying to restrain her from getting back in her car and leaving after an argument. The officers explain that she has committed a battery and thereby earned herself an inescapable arrest and overnight stay in jail because by law they have no discretion. This sets the stage for two hours of court proceedings before three different judges, each trying to apply the Florida domestic violence laws.
poster
?
40
/1/
50
/1/

Haiku (2009)
Frederick Wiseman's contribution to the 2009 'Vision du reel' project.
poster
Kanopy
64
?
6.6
/113/
62
/8/
60
/8/
3.5
/333/

Racetrack (1985)
RACETRACK is about the Belmont Race Track, one of the world's leading race tracks for thoroughbred racing. The film highlights the training, maintaining and racing of thoroughbred horses. Everyday occurrences are shown: in the backstretch — the grooming, feeding, shoeing, and caring for horses and the preparation for races; at the practice track the various aspects of training, exercising, and timing the horses; at the paddock — the pre-race presentation of the horses; and in the grandstand — betting and watching the races. The film also has sequences showing the variety of work done by trainers, jockeys, jockey agents, grooms, hot walkers, stable hands, and veterinarians.
poster
Kanopy
?
7.5
/97/
35
/2/
83
/10/

Deaf (1986)
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 activity; training in living and working independently; and developing skills in home and money management.
poster
Kanopy
58
?
6.7
/87/
35
/2/
60
/8/
3.6
/245/

Multi-Handicapped (1986)
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 involving personal hygiene, mobility training, concepts of time and money, self help and independent living, dormitory life, recreation, sports, vocational training, and psychological counseling.
poster
Kanopy
61
?
6.8
/92/
43
/3/
67
/3/
3.4
/256/

Manoeuvre (1979)
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.
poster
Kanopy
65
?
7.4
/138/
50
/3/
62
/9/
3.8
/439/

High School II (1994)
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 in the humanities and sciences; family conferences; discussions of race, class, and gender; faculty meetings; disciplinary problems; sex education; conflict resolution by students; and student council meetings.
poster
64
?
6.7
/198/
62
/4/
58
/5/
3.5
/250/

The Last Letter (2002)
Locked away in the Jewish ghetto of an occupied Ukrainian town in 1941, a mother revisits her life in a last letter to her son.


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