Making Visual History
The World According to Frederick Wiseman: Beyond Documentary, Into History

Reception to follow.

ADMISSION:
Admission is free. Reservations required. RSVP at the links below beginning Tuesday, August 9, at 9 a.m.

USC Students, Staff, and Faculty: RSVP
USC Alumni: RSVP
General Public: RSVP

DESCRIPTION:
Join legendary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, the master documentarian of our time, for a conversation with USC professors Michael Renov and Vanessa Schwartz. Incorporating short film clips, the event will look at the way Wiseman documents and analyzes the present while knowing that his films will become sources for future historians.

Wiseman is the celebrated director, producer, sound person, and editor of 40 documentaries, from Titicut Follies (1967) to In Jackson Heights (2015). His three-hour tour de force National Gallery (2014) looks at the home of one of the world's greatest collections of paintings and, more broadly, about the role of art and art institutions in modern societies. He is known for his direct, observational style and for providing visual studies of modern social institutions that do not pretend to be “objective,” but rather acknowledge the personal experience of looking, interpreting, and understanding. Wiseman is the winner of the George Polk Career Award for journalistic integrity and investigative reporting and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement from the Venice International Film Festival, as well as Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships.

This event is presented as part of “Making Visual History,” a series of events exploring the intersection of the arts and humanities and the fascinating work of making history visible on screen.

Additional Links:
Frederick Wiseman IMDB

Related Events:
National Gallery
A Screening and Discussion with Frederick Wiseman
Friday, August 26, 2016, 6 p.m.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, School of Cinematic Arts 108
For more info, click here.

Tom Kalin: Fictionalizing History and Reinterpreting the Past
Thursday, November 10, 2016, 7 p.m.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, School of Cinematic Arts 108
For more info, click here.

Amanda Vickery: From the Classroom to the BBC
Monday, April 3, 2017, 7 p.m.
Friends of the USC Libraries Lecture Hall, Doheny Memorial Library 240
For more info, click here.

Organized by Vanessa Schwartz (History, Art History, and Visual Studies Research Institute), Daniela Bleichmar (Art History and History), Akira Lippit (Cinematic Arts, Comparative Literature, and East Asian Languages and Cultures), and Michael Renov (Cinematic Arts). Co-sponsored by the Visual Studies Research Institute, Mellon Sawyer Seminar, and USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Photo: Erik Madigan Heck