Frederick Wiseman’s New York

Frederick Wiseman’s New York
UnionDocs and partner venues

September 2–13, 2026

Workshop led by Genevieve Yue

Public screenings of his nine New York films will take place at cinemas across the city, offering the chance to experience this monumental body of work on the big screen at some of the city’s finest institutions: Anthology Film Archives, Museum of the Moving Image, Spectacle Theater, Metrograph, Low Cinema & more to be announced very soon.

All of the films feature a cast of characters that can only be described as incredibly New York: Spanish Harlem high schoolers, Belmont racehorse jockeys, a mescaline-addled art student, beleaguered councilperson staffers, a cat masseur, and unexpected cameos from Francis Ford Coppola, Richard Dawkins, the Harlem Globetrotters, and Andy Warhol. New York is a city like no other, and Wiseman was uniquely adept at capturing its diversity, its struggles, and its spirit.

Through screenings, close readings, seminars, guest conversations, and site visits to the neighborhoods and institutions these films document, participants will explore Wiseman's singular approach to observing public life and consider how his attention to place, labor, and civic institutions continues to shape documentary practice today. Genevieve will be joined by filmmakers, critics, artists, and community members including Shawn Glinis, Arlin Golden, Leo Goldsmith, Courtney Stephens, Nellie Kluz, André Robert Lee, Kameron Austin Collins, John Wilson, Mariana Mogilevich, Nilita Vachani, Esther Rosenfield, and Nick Fraccaro.

Partners: Museum of the Moving Image, Anthology Film Archives, Low Cinema, the American Ballet Theatre, Zipporah Films, Spectacle, Metrograph, Make the Road