Born in 1930, Wiseman is a Cambridge, Massachusetts resident and member of the Massachusetts Bar Association who turned to filmmaking in 1967, after years as an instructor and/or researcher at Boston University, Brandeis University, and Harvard. In 1970 he founded Zipporah Films, Inc., which continues to distribute his documentaries. Wiseman has also written and lectured widely on law enforcement issues.
In 2014 Frederick Wiseman received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. It was only the second time that this honor was given to a documentary filmmaker after Joris Ivens had received it in 1988.
[on editing] My job as editor is to make the film as best I can from the,rushes. What I think about the subject matter is what you see in the,final film. At least 50% of editing has nothing to do with technique. I,ask myself what it is I am seeing and hearing in the rushes. I have to,at least delude myself into thinking that I understand what is going on,in each of the sequences in order to (1) decide which sequences to use,(2) how to edit them into a usable form and (3) create a narrative,dramatic structure in which each segment has its proper place. This,process often takes a year. A month or two before I finish I usually,start thinking about what I want to do next. This is my way of avoiding,a postpartum depression. .
