FRED WISEMAN RETROSPECTIVE

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

USA, 2001, 196 min.

Director: Frederick Wiseman
Cinematography: John Davey
Editing: Frederick Wiseman
Sound: Frederick Wiseman
Production company: Zipporah Films
Print Source:
Zipporah Films
One Richdale Avenue, Unit #4
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02140
USA
Tel.: 617.576.3603
Fax: 617.864.8006
e-mail: info@zipporah.com
www.zipporah.com

Domestic Violence

Filmed in Tampa, FL, the film shows the police responding to domestic violence calls and the work of The Spring, the principal shelter in Tampa for women and children. Mr. Wiseman follows the Tampa police as they respond to domestic violence disputes, intervene in attacks and attempt to resolve altercations. At the shelter we see interviews, individual counseling sessions, anger management training, group therapy and staff meetings. As two thirds of the residents at the shelter are children, the film pays close attention to school activities, specialized therapy sessions for children where domestic violence is discussed, and counseling for parents and children organized around children's issues and experiences with domestic violence.

Frederick Wiseman

Born in 1930 in Boston Massachusetts, Mr. Wiseman initially studied law at Yale University. A member of the Massachusetts Bar, Mr. Wiseman was a Lecturer-in-Law at Boston University and a Research Associate in the Department of Sociology at Brandeis University before becoming a filmmaker. Mr. Wiseman started his career by producing a fiction feature film about Harlem teenagers, The Cool World (1963), adapted from the novel by Warren Miller and directed by New York filmmaker Shirley Clarke.

In 1967 Mr. Wiseman made his debut as a documentary filmmaker with Titicut Follies, an expose that chronicled the various ways the inmates at the State Prison for the Criminally Insane at Bridgewater, Massachusetts are treated by guards, social workers and psychiatrists. Due to its revealing nature, Titicut Follies became mired in lengthy litigation with state authorities, and the ensuing controversy resulted in Mr. Wiseman garnering the inaccurate reputation as a muckraker. Though Mr. Wiseman has gone on to examine the ins and outs of hospitals, high schools, army basic training, a welfare center and a police precinct, his films have also been concerned with the institution of American culture. And though his initial films did seem to be motivated by a desire for social change, recent films lack an ardent activist drive and instead are about the film experience itself, about finding narrative themes and exploring symbolic potential in the everyday through editing. They are also longer. Mr. Wiseman’s recent films can run into the 3 and 4 hour mark, a drastic increase from the 84 minute running time of Titicut Follies.

In 1971 Mr. Wiseman founded a distribution company, Zipporah Films. Though his works have been shown on PBS, Zipporah Films is committed to preserving, promoting and funding Mr. Wiseman’s body of work through rentals, screenings and lectures.

During his expansive career, Mr. Wiseman has received numerous awards and accolades including Emmy Awards, the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Silver Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival, the Grand Prix at the Marseille Festival of Documentary Film and a personal Peabody Award.

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