Frederick Wiseman is an attorney turned filmmaker who has spent half a century offering audiences intimate views of institutions and communities, from state legislatures to boxing gyms to public housing and schools. His first film Titicut Follies (1967) documented abuses in the Massachusetts Correctional Institution Bridgewater and led to sweeping reforms in mental hospitals.
Jenn Chavez sits down with Mr Wiseman to ask about the subjects that inspire him, his detached style of filmmaking, and his success in producing and distributing films outside the studio system.
An expanded version of this episode, featuring an extended interview, is available at this link.
- KBOO