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- Documentaries by Frederick Wiseman
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Documentaries Directed by Frederick Wiseman
These documentaries directed by Frederick Wiseman look closely at public institutions, communities, work and the arts. The list includes City Hall, State Legislature, Public Housing, La Danse and Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros.
Choose by subject and setting. A reader can move from the Central Park East Secondary School in High school II to Miami Metrozoo in Zoo, or from the town portrait Belfast, Maine to the hospital focus of Near Death.
20 documentaries · ordered 26 October 2026 · How we order lists
Newest first: the year each film was released, from the open film record (Wikidata), then the order the list has always had. Every film’s page names its source.
- No. 120234 h
Menus-Plaisirs - Les Troisgros
by Frederick Wiseman · France · French, English
Wiseman follows daily life at the French restaurant Le Bois sans feuilles.
- No. 22020
City Hall
by Frederick Wiseman · United States · English
Wiseman explores the workings of Boston's city government.
- No. 320092 h 39 min
La Danse
by Frederick Wiseman · France · French
The Paris Opera Ballet prepares and performs seven ballets.
- No. 420073 h 37 min
State Legislature
by Frederick Wiseman · United States · English
Wiseman details the workings of the Idaho Legislature.
- No. 52001
Domestic Violence
by Frederick Wiseman · United States · English
Wiseman's documentary examines domestic violence in America.
- No. 619994 h 8 min
Belfast, Maine
by Frederick Wiseman · United States · English
Wiseman explores the town of Belfast, Maine.
- No. 71997
Public Housing
by Frederick Wiseman · United States · English
Daily life unfolds in Chicago's Ida B. Wells public housing development.
- No. 819952 h 50 min
- No. 919943 h 40 min
High school II
by Frederick Wiseman · United States
Central Park East Secondary School is explored in East Harlem.
- No. 1019942 h 20 min
- No. 1119895 h 49 min
Near Death
by Frederick Wiseman · United States
The film explores a medical intensive care unit in a Boston hospital.
- No. 1219881 h 55 min
Missile
by Frederick Wiseman · United States · English
Wiseman examines missiles, nuclear technology and the Cold War.
sciencewar - No. 1319812 h 10 min
Model
by Frederick Wiseman · United States · English
The modeling industry in New York City is examined.
- No. 141979
Manœuvre
by Frederick Wiseman · United States · English
An American tank company trains in a NATO exercise in West Germany.
- No. 1519741 h 45 min
Primate
by Frederick Wiseman · United States
Wiseman explores the Yerkes National Primate Research Center.
- No. 161973
Juvenile Court
by Frederick Wiseman · United States
A juvenile court and detention center in Memphis are explored.
- No. 1719701 h 24 min
Hospital
by Frederick Wiseman · United States · English
Daily work at New York's Metropolitan Hospital Center is observed.
Metropolitan Hospital Centerhealth care - No. 1819691 h 21 min
Law and Order
by Frederick Wiseman · United States · English
Wiseman follows the Kansas City Police Department at work.
Kansas City Police Department - No. 1919681 h 15 min
High School
by Frederick Wiseman · United States · English
A typical day at a Pennsylvania high school in the late 1960s.
- No. 2019671 h 24 min
Titicut Follies
by Frederick Wiseman · United States · English
Patients at Massachusetts' Bridgewater State Hospital are portrayed.
Bridgewater State Hospitalmental health
Places #1 to #5 on this list are sold one at a time, and all five are open today: #1 is $149 a month, and the film at that number today moves down one. Take #1
Before you press play
Start with the subject
Wiseman’s films cover civic life, education, housing, family services, medicine, the military, animals and performance. City Hall follows municipal government, while Domestic Violence addresses a family-service institution.
For education, High school II explores an alternative high school in East Harlem. Public Housing examines public housing, and Missile is about an American military subject.
For the arts and food
La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet and Ballet focus on ballet institutions and performers. Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros is a French-language film about the Troisgros restaurant.
Choose a place
Belfast, Maine explores the town of Belfast, Maine. Zoo explores the Miami Metrozoo. These provide location-centered views distinct from films about a single institution.
Compare the release years
The films span several decades, from Near Death (1989) and Missile (1988) to City Hall (2020) and Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros (2023). Release year can help set the viewing period.
What viewers ask
- Who directed these documentaries?
- Every film on this list is directed by Frederick Wiseman.
- Which Wiseman film is about city government?
- City Hall is a 2020 American documentary directed, edited and co-produced by Frederick Wiseman.
- Which film explores an alternative high school?
- High school II is a 1994 documentary about Central Park East Secondary School in East Harlem, New York City.
- What is Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros?
- It is a 2023 French-language documentary written and directed by Frederick Wiseman, and his final film before his death in February 2026.
- Which Wiseman documentaries focus on ballet?
- La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet and Ballet are documentaries directed by Frederick Wiseman about ballet.
By director