Frederick Wiseman

Frederick Wiseman
Wiseman discussing his work at the Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, on June 13th, 2005
Born	(1930-01-01) January 1, 1930 (age 87) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater	Williams College Yale University
Occupation	Director, producer
Spouse(s)	Zipporah Batshaw (m. 1955; 2 children)

Frederick Wiseman (born January 1, 1930) is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and theatrical director.

Wiseman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Gertrude Leah (née Kotzen) and Jacob Leo Wiseman. He gained a Bachelor of Arts from Williams College in 1951 and a Bachelor of Laws from Yale Law School in 1954. He spent 1954 to 1956 serving in the U.S. Military. Wiseman spent a few years in Paris before coming back and started teaching law at Boston University's Institute of Law and Medicine. He then started documentary filmmaking, and has won numerous film awards, as well as Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships.

In 2003, Wiseman was awarded the Dan David Prize for his outstanding films, which make us reckon with our emotions and the cost to society of marginalizing those who cannot speak for themselves. In 2006, Wiseman received the George Polk Career Award, given annually by Long Island University to honor contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting.

The first feature-length film that Wiseman produced was The Cool World in 1963. He next produced and directed Titicut Follies (1967). He has both produced and directed all of his films since. They chiefly are studies of social institutions: for example, hospital, high school, police department. All have been aired on PBS, one of his primary funders.

The style of Wiseman's films is often referred to as the observational mode, which has its roots in direct cinema. However, Wiseman dislikes the term:

In spring 2012, Wiseman took actively part in the three month exposition of Whitney Biennial.