From a feature essay on the films of Fred Wiseman:

For more than 50 years and across nearly as many films, legendary director Fred Wiseman has made a career of exploring the public institutions of the modern world. From libraries to public housing and city hall to the welfare office, Wiseman’s collected oeuvre provides a ringside seat to the daily work of government bureaucracies and other public settings — many of which will be (often frustratingly) familiar to readers of Planning magazine.

Wiseman’s style is not for everyone: scenes of daily life unfold at their own natural pace, and with minimal cutting. Shots are long, background noises are present, and seemingly endless minutes creep by with very little conventional “movie action”: a woman sweeps a floor; children fidget waiting for the start of an all-school assembly; a researcher sorts photos in the library.

But these marginal times and spaces are where the pathos of people and places reside. Rather than summarize or digest the material for us, Wiseman’s camera strives to inhabit these places for a time, so that we may come to understand what it means to attend this school, or live in this housing, or be at the mercy of this social service agency. And while the camera does not flinch from confronting the reality of the interactions it captures — some of which are tense, violent, or even graphic — it does so with empathy. Wiseman is never exploitative or voyeuristic, and while his films are often funny, the humor is never at the expense of his subjects….

For the full essay, see the July 2020 issue of Planning Magazine.