Zipporah Films

The famous New York City landmark is given the spotlight, as well as the variety of ways in which people make use of it: running, boating, walking, skating, music, theatre, sports, picnics, parades and concerts. Further illustrated are the complex problems the NYC Parks Department deals with in order to maintain and preserve the park and keep it open and accessible to the public.

Explores a long-term relationship between a man and a woman: the man, Leo Tolstoy; the woman, his wife, Sophia. Married for 36 years, had thirteen children, nine of whom survived, each kept a diary. Although they lived together, in the same house, they frequently wrote letters to each other. Leo insists that they read their diaries aloud to guests at dinner parties. The Tolstoys were also a dysfunctional couple, arguing frequently and being very unhappy with each other while occasionally enjoying passionate moments of reconciliation. Sophia’s monologue explores the joys and struggles of their life together, loosely drawn from their letters to each other and their diary entries.

An in-depth look at the main Neiman-Marcus store and corporate headquarters in Dallas: the selection, presentation, marketing, pricing, advertising and selling of a vast array of consumer products including designer clothes and furs, jewelry, perfumes, shoes, electronic products, sportswear, China and porcelain, and many other goods. Internal management and organizational aspects of a large corporation are shown, i.e., sales meetings, development of marketing and advertising strategies, training, personnel practices and sales techniques.

Employing methods of direct cinema–observation, limited stylization, and non-intervention–this stark look into the State Prison for the Criminally Insane in Bridgewater, Massachusetts shows its denizens, who were often kept in barren cells and infrequently bathed, forced to strip naked publicly, force feeding, and the indifference and bullying by many of the hospital's staff.

Founded in 1930, Troisgros has held three Michelin stars for 55 years. The children of the fourth generation, Marie-Pierre and Michel's sons continue the family business: César runs the Michelin-starred restaurant, 'Le Bois sans feuilles' ('The Leafless Wood'), and Léo is in charge of one of the other two Troisgros restaurants, 'La Colline du colombier' ('The Dovecote Hill'). From the daily market to the cheese maturing cellars, via the vineyard, the cattle farm and the vegetable garden adjacent to the restaurant, Menus-Plaisirs is an intimate, sensory journey through the kitchens of one of the world's most prestigious restaurants.

A cinéma vérité exploration of the grueling schedules, auditions, lighting design, and backstage operations at the famous Parisian nude cabaret, Le Crazy Horse de Paris, over a ten-week period, specifically capturing the creation of a new show put together by choreographer Philippe Decouflé. Wiseman highlights the immense precision, discipline, and artistic effort required by dancers and staff to maintain the legendary cabaret's distinct aesthetic.

Veteran award-winning documentarian Frederick Wiseman turns his lens on the world of boxing, specifically on a gym in Austin, Texas. Unobtrusively recording the simple comings and goings at the facility, Wiseman documents daily life at the gym, its many patrons, their routines, and its owner, Richard Lord.

A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.

La Comédie-Française is the oldest continuous repertory company in the world, founded in late 17th-century Paris. This is the first time a documentary filmmaker has been allowed to examine all the aspects of this great theatrical company. Sequences include sections of plays, casting, set and costume design, administrative meetings and rehearsals and performances of four classic French plays, Don Juan by Molière, La Thebaide by Racine, La Double Inconstance by Marivaux, and Occupe-toi d'Amelie by Feydeau.

A portrait of the day-to-day operations of the National Gallery of London, that reveals the role of the employees and the experiences of the Gallery's visitors. The film portrays the role of the curators and conservators; the education, scientific, and conservation departments; and the audience of all kinds of people who come to experience it.

Monrovia, Indiana explores a small town in rural, mid-America and illustrates how values like community service, duty, spiritual life, generosity, and authenticity are formed, experienced, and lived along with conflicting stereotypes. The film gives a complex and nuanced view of daily life in Monrovia and provides some understanding of a way of life whose influence and force have not always been recognized or understood in the big cities on the east and west coasts of America and in other countries.

The nature and complexity of the welfare system is explored in sequences illustrating the staggering diversity of constituting problems: housing, unemployment, divorce, medical and psychiatric problems, abandoned and abused children, and the elderly. These issues are presented in a context where workers as well as clients struggle to cope with and interpret the laws and regulations that govern their livelihood.

Frederick Wiseman focuses his lens on male and female models at work on television commercials, fashion shows, magazine covers, and advertising for a variety of products, including designer collections, fur coats, sports clothes and automobiles. The models are seen at work with photographers whose techniques illustrate different styles of fashion and product photography. The business aspect of running an agency is also shown: interviewing prospective models, career counseling, arranging portfolios, talking with clients, and planning trips presents a view of the intersections of fashion, business, advertising, photography, television and fantasy.

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman analyzes the interrelation between animals and their human captors at Miami's Metro Zoo. Looking past the chipper veneer of zoos as venues for childhood wonderment, he probes the institutional machinations behind the exhibitions, from the dedicated veterinarians and zookeepers who care for the animals to the administrative staff who are tasked with their ethical, technological and financial upkeep.

A film about ordinary experience in a beautiful old New England port city. A portrait of daily life with particular emphasis on the work and the cultural life of the community, among the activities shown are the work of lobstermen, tug-boat operators, factory workers, shop owners, city counselors, doctors, judges, policemen, teachers, social workers, nurses and ministers. Cultural activities include choir rehearsal, dance class, music lessons and theatre production.

Documentarian Frederick Wiseman highlights the educational programs and daily life of all levels of students at the Alabama School for the Blind, where the effort is organized around educating blind and visually impaired students to be in charge of their own lives. Sequences include mobility training, braille instruction and orientation, as well as traditional classroom subjects such as English, history, science and music, as well as psychological counseling sessions; vocational training; staff dealing with disciplinary problems; and the wide variety of recreational and athletic programs.

The day to day activities of multi-handicapped and sensory impaired students and their teachers, dormitory parents, and counselors at the Helen Keller School, whose primary mission is to meet the total and living needs of deaf and/or blind children, some of whom also have other impairments. Frederick Wiseman presents situations involving personal hygiene, mobility training, concepts of time and money, self help and independent living, dormitory life, recreation, sports, vocational training, and psychological counseling.

The School for the Deaf at the Alabama Institute is organized around a theory of total communication, i.e. the use of signs and finger spelling in conjunction with speech, hearing aids, lip reading, gestures and the written word. Sequences deal with various aspects of this comprehensive training such as teaching students and parents to sign; speech therapy; psychological counseling; regular academic courses; vocational training; disciplinary problems; parents visits; sports and recreational activity; training in living and working independently; and developing skills in home and money management.

Legendary documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman explores the culture, politics and daily life of the Queens, NYC district of Jackson Heights, which lays claim to being the most diverse neighborhood in the world.

An epic look at Boston’s city government, covering racial justice, housing, climate action, and more, exploring the government of Boston, MA, from racial justice, housing, climate change action and more. Wiseman's documentaries do not have a standard narrative arc, narration, or interviews, but are based on observation of day-to-day organizational life, in this case, the activities of Boston's city government in fall 2018 and winter 2019. Much of the film follows Mayor Marty Walsh in activities such as meetings with aides at City Hall, addressing business leaders about the impact of climate change on the Harbor, listening to veterans at Faneuil Hall on November 11, observing Thanksgiving Day at Goodwill Industries, and giving his state of the city address at Symphony Hall.