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Frederick Wiseman to speak at DePaul
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Frederick Wiseman has been defined as "a man who single-handedly redefined what we have come to consider a documentary to be". Although you've probably never heard of the guy, it might very well be in your best interest to check out what DePaul University and Sawbuck Productions have in store for the end of this month. The filmmaker of such indie favorites as Titicut Follies will give a rare public lecture at the DePaul Schmitt Academic Center in Room 154 on Friday, February 27 at 7PM. The free presentation, "Making Documentary Films", will be followed on Sunday, March 1st with a $10 ($5 student) double feature at the Historic Portage Theatre (intersection of N. Milwaukee, N. Cicero and W. Irving Park and home of the Silent Film Society of Chicago).
Online magazine Salon.com best described Wiseman's take on cinema verité as having none of the guiding tools of contemporary documentaries, such as narration, music, or titles. "His subjects condemn or exalt themselves on their own," Richard Covington wrote, "in full knowledge of what they're doing, without coercion or persuasion." However, the auteur (in the truest sense of the word, as he always edits, directs, and produces) has spoken out somewhat against his work being defined in this way:
"What I try to do is edit the films so that they will have a dramatic structure, that is why I object to some extent to the term observational cinema or cinema verité, because observational cinema to me at least connotes just hanging around with one thing being as valuable as another and that is not true. At least that is not true for me and cinema verité is just a pompous French term that has absolutely no meaning as far as I'm concerned." (via Wikipedia)
After his films were publicly unavailable for quite some time, Wiseman founded Zipporah Films, Inc. and now offers DVDs of most of his work at the official website. The first film to be shown at the March 1st double feature, Titicut Follies, is perhaps his most well known and takes viewers to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution for the criminally insane. Like most great documentaries, it was met with anger and dissension upon its release. The second film, Public Housing, will bring you right back to Chicago, to discover the Ida B. Wells public housing project (around E. 37th and S. Martin Luther King Jr). These two films, made exactly 30 years apart (1967 and 1997), should provide a great epilogue (at a great venue) to the Friday night lecture. Speaking from personal experience, Room 154 of DePaul's Schmitt Center doesn't seat very many people. Don't hesitate to arrive early for this unique opportunity.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Lecture and Discussion
DePaul University
Schmitt Academic Center, Rm. 154
2320 N. Kenmore Ave.
Chicago, IL
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Wiseman Double Feature
Historic Portage House
4050 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL
— Sawbuck Productions website
— Portage Theatre site
— Zipporah Films site
— Frederick Wiseman @ IMDb
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