Cinema Expanded: The Films of Frederick Wiseman

Region B

Cinema Expanded: The Films of Frederick Wiseman (Blu-ray)
Director: Frederick Wiseman

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 mins)
• High School (1968, 75 mins )
• Hospital (1970, 84 mins)
• Juvenile Court (1973, 144 mins)
• Welfare (1975, 167 mins)

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