Frederick Wiseman Dies at 96: The Documentary Legend Was One of Cinema’s Greatest Masters

Frederick Wiseman, the legendary documentarian who made groundbreaking portraits of social institutions for over half a century, has died at 96 years old. The news was announced by his family and his Zipporah Films, Inc..

One the most important filmmakers of the last 50-plus years, Wiseman was also one of the most prolific. His body of work remained masterful well passed the age of 80, as his most recent films “Monrovia, Indiana,” “Ex Libris,” “In Jackson Heights,” “National Gallery,” and “At Berkeley” (on IndieWire’s Top 100 of the decade) received effusive and near-universal critical praise for being every bit as richly complex and razor sharp as the earlier films that carved his place on the Mt. Rushmore of documentary film.

Wiseman is best known for first film, 1967’s “Titicut Follies,” a harrowing look at the inhumane treatment of the criminally insane. After the controversial debut, there were no mainstream breakthroughs or Oscar…