Los Angeles, Feb 17 (.) Legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman passed away on Monday at the age of 96, Zipporah Films, the distribution company he founded in 1971, announced, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
“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 company said in a statement.
Originally a law professor, Wiseman turned to filmmaking and went on to craft nearly one documentary a year. His first film, the controversial Titicut Follies (1967), exposed the appalling conditions at Bridgewater State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The film was banned for two decades following legal challenges in Massachusetts.
Reflecting on his long career, Wiseman once said during his Governors Awards acceptance speech, “What’s kept me going is it’s fun and an adventure. Constantly working also keeps me off the streets, or at least on the streets that I like.”
His 50th documentary, Menus Plaisirs, Les Troisgros, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2023, highlighting the filmmaker’s lifelong commitment to exploring culture, institutions, and human life with meticulous observation and artistry. Wiseman’s legacy as one of cinema’s greatest chroniclers of society and everyday life will endure for generations to come.
. MI PPP