Frederick Wiseman’s glorious documentary is about the energies of and around painting—discussing, framing, mounting, lighting, repairing, restoring, creating, and looking at painting. But, perhaps above all, it’s a film of faces: the faces of those looking and the faces of those who look back from the canvases, in an endless, joyful exchange.

Every new film from Frederick Wiseman, now 88 years old, seems more vigorous and acute than the last. In this tough, piercing look at the rhythm and texture of life as it is lived in a wide swathe of this country, he documents a small town located deep in the American heartland.

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. Titicut Follies documents the various ways the inmates are treated by the guards, social workers, and psychiatrists.

Filmed at a large urban high school in Philadelphia, High School documents how the school system not only exists to pass on “facts” but also transmits social values from one generation to another.

Law and Order follows the day-to-day work of the Kansas City Police Department as they operate in an area hit hard by violence during several 1968 race riots.

Hospital shows the daily activities of New York City’s Metropolitan Hospital, following hospital staff and a variety of patients with an emphasis on the emergency ward and outpatient clinics.

Basic Training follows a company of draftees and enlisted men through nine weeks of the basic training cycle and the many forms of ideological training familiar to those who have served in the armed forces.

Primate presents the daily activities of Atlanta’s Yerkes National Primate Research Center. Scientists in the film are concerned with studying the physical and mental development of primates. Please note: This film contains scenes of a graphic nature.

In this pivotal work, Frederick Wiseman sets up shop in New York City’s Zoli modeling agency, housed in a townhouse in the East 60s, exploring each and every angle behind the institution of fashion modeling.

Centered on the main 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.

A 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.

High School II looks at Central Park East Secondary School, a successful alternative high school in New York’s Spanish Harlem, 85–95% of whose graduates go on to four-year colleges. The film illustrates the school’s emphasis on the “Habits of Mind” program.

Meat examines one of America’s largest feed lots and packing plants while tracing the process through which cattle and sheep become consumer goods.

Zoo is a film about the Miami Zoo, the care and maintenance of the animals by the keepers, the work of the veterinarians and their staff, and the visits to the zoo by people from all over the world.

La Comedie-Française is the oldest continuous repertory company in the world, founded in Paris in the late 17th century. This is the first time a documentary filmmaker has been allowed to look at all the aspects of the work of this great theatrical company.

Public Housing documents daily life at the Ida B. Wells public housing development in Chicago. The film illustrates some of the experiences of people living in conditions of extreme poverty.

The Last Letter follows a mother locked away in a Jewish ghetto of an occupied Ukrainian town in 1941 as she revisits her life in a last letter to her son.

Juvenile Court shows the complex variety of cases before the Memphis Juvenile Court: foster home placement, drug abuse, armed robbery, child abuse, and sexual offenses.

Adjustment & Work shows adjustment services for adults in personal and work situations as they learn to adjust to their impairments. Sequences include routine work and manufacturing of a variety of household and military products.

Racetrack is about New York’s Belmont Race Track, one of the world’s leading race tracks for thoroughbred racing. The film highlights the training, maintenance, and racing of thoroughbred horses.

Canal Zone is about the people who live and work in the Panama Canal Zone and shows both the operation of the canal and the various governmental agencies related to its functioning and the lives of the Americans in the zone.

Manoeuvre follows a U.S. infantry tank company through NATO’s annual fall maneuvres in Western Europe. The various stages of the training exercise are seen from the point of view of a company fighting a simulated conventional war.

Essene is about daily life in a Benedictine monastery and the resolution of conflict between personal needs and the institutional and organizational priorities of the community.

Sinai Field Mission follows the diplomats and technicians who operate the U.S. Sinai Field Mission, the early warning system established in 1976 to help facilitate the disengagement between Egypt and Israel after the 1973 war.

State Legislature shows the day-to-day activities of the Idaho Legislature during an entire session. The film is an example of the achievements, values, constraints, and limitations of the democratic process.

Central Park focuses on the famous New York City landmark and the variety of ways people make use of it, while illustrating the complex problems the New York City Parks Department deals with in order to maintain and preserve the park.

Aspen is an exploration during the winter months of the daily life and activities of the people who live, work, visit, and play in the former silver mining town of Aspen.

Deaf is a chronicle of the total communication teaching methods (i.e., the use of signs and finger spelling in conjunction with speech, hearing aids, lip reading, gestures, and the written word) used at The School for the Deaf at the Alabama Institute.

Blind shows the educational programs and daily life of students in kindergarten through the 12th grade at the Alabama School for the Blind, a school organized to educate blind and visually impaired students to be in charge of their own lives.

Near Death presents the interrelationships among patients, families, doctors, nurses, and religious advisors as they confront the issues involved in making decisions about life-sustaining treatment for dying patients at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital.

Missile is a look at the 4315th Training Squadron of the Strategic Air Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base, where officers are trained to man the Launch Control Centers for the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.

This film shows the day-to-day activities of multi-handicapped and sensory-impaired students and their teachers, dormitory parents, and counselors at the Helen Keller School.

Domestic Violence shows the Tampa, Florida police responding to domestic violence calls and the work of The Spring, the principal shelter in Tampa for women and children. Sequences include police response, intervention, and attempted resolution of domestic violence calls.

Domestic Violence 2 takes place in the arraignment, misdemeanor, and injunction courts in Hillsborough County in Tampa, Florida. The judges and lawyers ask questions that elicit the stories of couples’ relationships and the specific form of violence between them.

Ballet is a profile of the American Ballet Theatre in New York. The film presents the company in rehearsal and on tour in Athens and Copenhagen. Choreographers and ballet masters and mistresses are shown at work with dancers, soloists, and the corps de ballet.

Belfast, Maine details the ordinary experiences in a beautiful old New England port city. It is a portrait of daily life with particular emphasis on the work and the cultural life of the community.

Boxing Gym observes men, women, and children as they train and interact in the lively and diverse environment of Lord’s Boxing Gym in Austin, Texas.

Ex Libris goes behind the scenes of one of the greatest knowledge institutions in the world and reveals it as a place of welcome cultural exchange and learning.

At Berkeley looks at the University of California, Berkeley, from multiple angles in order to arrive at a portrait that is rich in detail and epic in scope.

Wiseman catches the textures of New York life in his documentary about Jackson Heights, Queens, one of New York City’s liveliest and most culturally diverse neighborhoods, caught in the gears of economic “development.”

La Danse follows the rehearsals and performances of seven ballets at the Paris Opera Ballet, one of the world’s great ballet companies.

Wiseman brings his camera into a three-star Michelin restaurant in rural central France, and the results are as expansive, delectable, and provocative as one would hope.