Cinema Expanded: The Films of Frederick Wiseman

As someone who has long believed Frederick Wiseman is one of cinema's best and most important filmmakers, I am very excited to be part of this forthcoming BFI blu-ray collection. The set contains new restorations of five films from the start of Wiseman's long career, and I have written a new essay on his 1975 masterpiece Welfare, which is one of the great films of its era. It's so good to see Wiseman's films finally reaching a wider audience and these are essential works from an American master.

Cinema Expanded: The Films of Frederick Wiseman is released on January 26th, and you can pre-order it here.

Description

With a groundbreaking career spanning seven decades, Frederick Wiseman is one of the great American storytellers. His documentaries, shot vérité-style, are meticulously edited narratives chronicling life’s complexities through rich portraits of social and cultural institutions. Wiseman’s themes are expansive: democracy, power, inequality and community, to name a few; but his focus is compellingly specific and humane. Whether revealing shortcomings in social support or celebrating culinary excellence, he has a unique eye – and ear – for detail.

Representing their first release in the UK, this 3-disc / 5-film collection features a selection of Wiseman’s work made between 1967 and 1975, including Titicut Follies, High School and Juvenile Court.

The Films:

Titicut Follies (1967, 84 m)

High School (1968, 75m)

Hospital (1970, 84m)

Juvenile Court (1973, 144m)

Welfare (1975, 167m)

Extras:

Newly restored in 4K by Zipporah Films and presented in High Definition

Newly commissioned video essay by Ian Mantgani on the films of Frederick Wiseman

Frederick Wiseman: A Discussion (2025): filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s aesthetics and approach to filmmaking. Recorded at BFI Southbank, London.

Limited edition including a perfect-bound book featuring essays by David Jenkins, Eric Marsh, Stephen Mamber, Philip Concannon and Shawn Glinis and Arlin Golden, hosts of the long-running Wiseman Podcast. Also includes a 1986 interview with William Brayne (cinematographer on Hospital and Juvenile Court) and a 1974 essay from Sight & Sound by Thomas Atkins

Newly created English descriptive subtitles on all five films