Frederick Wiseman, the prolific documentarian behind films like “Titicut Follies,” “At Berkeley,” “National Gallery” and “Ex Libris,” died on Monday. He was 96 years old.
Wiseman’s death was announced in a joint statement from the Wiseman family and Zipporah Films.
“For nearly six decades, Frederick Wiseman created an unparalleled body of work, a sweeping cinematic record of contemporary social institutions and ordinary human experience primarily in the United States and France,” the statement read. “His films – from ‘Titicut Follies’ (1967) to his most recent work, ‘Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros’ (2023) – are celebrated for their complexity, narrative power and humanist gaze. He produced and directed all of his 45 films under the banner of Zipporah Films, Inc.”
Born in Boston, he graduated Williams College and Yale Law School. The first film he produced was “The Cool World,” directed by Shirley Clarke, about life in a Harlem gang. He was both director and producer of his next film, “Titicut Follies,” which chronicled the harsh life of residents at the Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane.
He went on to explore the life of institutions in more than 40 documentaries from 1968’s “High School” to “Law and Order” about the Kansas City Police Department, “Hospital,” “Public Housing” and the 2020 “City Hall.”
Wiseman received an honorary Oscar in 2016 as well as the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Fest in 2014.
His wife of 65 years, Zipporah Batshaw Wiseman, died in 2021.
He is survived by two sons, David and Eric, and three grandchildren, as well as Karen Konicek,
his friend and collaborator, who worked with him for 45 years.
