PMA Films Series: “Social Studies: A Tribute to Frederick Wiseman”

PMA Films is proud to present a film series in tribute to the late filmmaker, Frederick Wiseman. “Social Studies: A Tribute to Frederick Wiseman” will run through June, highlighting seven of of the director’s films from across his long and eclectic career. 

Over 60 years of work, Wiseman’s eye was drawn toward locations as specific as a Philadelphia high school (1968’s High School) and as sprawling as the sweeping In Jackson heights, from 2015. Whether embedding with a dance troupe (2009’s La Danse) or a Michelin-feted French restaurant (his last film, 2023’s Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros), Wiseman centered everyday activities and personalities in his films while sculpting politically complex, aesthetically sublime portraits of dozens of unique ecosystems. 

In its totality, Wiseman’s oeuvre leaves us with an invaluable chronicle of American life as it was lived across generations.

In addition to the films screening here, PMA Films is thrilled to co-present a very special screening of Wiseman’s masterful Belfast, Maine (1999) at the Colonial Theatre in Belfast (a location highlighted in the film) on May 23 at 12:30 p.m. Tickets for that screening are available here.