WHEN: Thursdays, March 13-April 24
WHERE: Oklahoma City Museum of Art Noble Theater, 415 Couch Dr., Oklahoma City, OK 73102
WHAT: OKCMOA presents Frederick Wiseman: Documenting American Life, an original seven-film retrospective of nonfiction masterworks by the pioneering American filmmaker, Frederick Wiseman. Over the course of his nearly sixty-year filmmaking career, Wiseman has dedicated himself to chronicling diverse aspects of American institutional and community life. Spanning the director’s extraordinary 20th-century output, Museum Films’ series begins with Wiseman’s groundbreaking 1967 debut Titicut Follies and concludes with his small-town epic Belfast, Maine (1999) and features new director-supervised 4K restorations.
Titicut Follies | Thursday, March 13 at 7:30 pm
Frederick Wiseman | 1967 | In English | 84 minutes | NR | DCP
Frederick Wiseman’s first feature is a stark and graphic portrayal of the conditions that existed at the State Prison for the Criminally Insane at Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The film documents the various ways the inmates are treated by the guards, social workers and psychiatrists.
High School | Thursday, March 20 at 7:30 pm
Frederick Wiseman | 1968 | In English | 75 minutes | NR | 4K DCP
Filmed at a large urban high school in Philadelphia, High School records the daily activities of administrators, teachers, parents and students and the policies and attitudes that shape the institution.
Law and Order | Thursday, March 27 at 7:30 pm
Frederick Wiseman | 1969 | In English | 81 minutes | NR | 4K DCP
Law and Order follows the day-to-day work of the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department. Filmed in the highest crime district of the city, the film surveys the wide range of work the police are asked to perform – enforcing the law, maintaining order and providing general social services.
Welfare | Thursday, April 3 at 7 pm
Frederick Wiseman | 1975 | In English | 167 minutes | NR | 4K DCP
A large-scale profile of the welfare system that illustrates the staggering diversity of problems that constitute welfare: unemployment, divorce, housing, medical and psychiatric problems, abandoned and abused children, and the elderly.
The Store | Thursday, April 10 at 7:30 pm
Frederick Wiseman | 1983 | In English | 118 minutes | NR | 4K DCP
Centered on the flagship Neiman-Marcus store and corporate headquarters in Dallas, The Store studies the selection, presentation, marketing, pricing, advertising, and selling of a vast array of consumer products, including designer clothes and fur, jewelry, china and porcelain, shoes, electronic products, sportswear and perfumes.
Central Park | Thursday, April 17 at 7 pm
Frederick Wiseman | 1990 | In English | 176 minutes | NR | 4K DCP
Central Park focuses on the famous New York City landmark and the variety of ways people make use of it – running, boating, walking, skating, music, theater, sports, picnics, parades and concerts – while illustrating the complex problems the New York City Parks Department deals with in order to maintain and preserve the park.
Belfast, Maine | Thursday, April 24 at 6 pm
Frederick Wiseman | 1999 | In English | 248 minutes | NR | 4K DCP
Belfast, Maine is a film about a beautiful old New England port city. It is a sweeping portrait of daily life with particular emphasis on the work and the cultural life of the small community.