The Cinematheque

“The greatest of [Wiseman’s] documentation of micro-communities … Wiseman draws the small regionalisms out of Belfast with a deep sensitivity, suggesting as many stories through architecture and accents as he does the wide range of activities, which include lobster fishing, factory work, and council meetings.”

Michael Ewins, BFI

Frederick Wiseman’s artistic project is cumulative; each film builds upon the others, a progression that reaches its possible apotheosis in Belfast, Maine. This town of 6,500 residents is rendered anything but typical in Wiseman’s hands. Assembly-line processes, individuals, their relationships to art and history and nature, and day-night cycles are intricately linked. The strangest and most overwhelming aspect of this film is that when seen as the summation of a century, correspondences between sites and themes of interest in his past work subconsciously emerge—it’s as if this town, and this film, can contain all of Wiseman’s other films. Belfast is a place where people are attended to, from youth to near end of life, and where things are crafted: sardine tins, animal pelts, baked goods, frozen potato products, and perhaps, in cinematic terms, the great American nonfiction novel.

Advisory: Belfast, Maine contains scenes of animal hunting, trapping, and pelting.

“The masterful documentarian of High School and Welfare has now become a masterful essayist … None of [Belfast, Maine] is boring to watch, and a big screen gives it the monumentality and weight it deserves.” Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Video introduction by Frederick Wiseman.