Frederick Wiseman is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and theater director. For close to thirty years, he has created an exceptional body of work consisting of thirty full length films devoted primarily to exploring American institutions. One of his most acclaimed works, Titicut Follies (1967), explores the social institution of mental health facilities, taking place in a psych ward in Massachusetts. Other institutions that Wiseman examined early in his career that have “problems” the filmmaker uncovers include a high school, army basic training, a welfare center, and a police precinct. His approach reveals the profound acknowledged and unacknowledged conformity and inequality of American society.