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Press Release
RENOWNED DOCUMENTARIAN FREDERICK WISEMAN EXPLORES THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS AT THE HEART OF DEMOCRACY IN STATE LEGISLATURE, PREMIERING JUNE 13 ON PBS
The Rocky Mountain state of Idaho is governed by "citizen" legislators - not career politicians. These lawmakers are, for the most part, farmers and ranchers, business men and women, lawyers, doctors, sales people, loggers, and teachers elected for two-year terms. During the 2004 Idaho state legislative session, these citizen legislators became an integral part of STATE LEGISLATURE, the latest documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.
In his ongoing project to explore contemporary American life as expressed in institutions, Wiseman turned his camera on the legislature to illustrate the way the democratic decision-making process works. In his trademark style, nothing is staged. Wiseman captures the lawmakers as they debate and discuss the concerns of the electorate, on issues that range from violence in schools, mad cow disease and video voyeurism to illegal immigration, secondhand smoke and the deregulation of telephone rates.
In Le Monde, Thomas Sotinel called STATE LEGISLATURE "(an) ode to representative democracy." Variety's review stated, "What emerges is the thoroughness with which the system treats even the most contentious of issues and eccentric of constituents." After a showing at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival, German film critic Ekkehard Knörer wrote, "One stands to gain nothing less than mind-boggling insights into the machinery of American democracy."
STATE LEGISLATURE premieres Wednesday, June 13 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). The film is presented nationwide on PBS by Thirteen/WNET New York, which has been the national presenter of Frederick Wiseman's films throughout his career. Wiseman, a three-time Emmy Award-winning director, has 34 documentary films to his credit, from the controversial Titicut Follies (1967) and High School (1968) to Near Death (1989), Public Housing (1997) and Domestic Violence (2001).
"This film shows the day-to-day aspects of the legislative process, the goal of which is the creation of the laws that govern the civic life depicted in my other films," said Wiseman. "Unlike a textbook description in a political science course of how a bill becomes a law, a film of a legislature can convey in a unique way the actuality of the legislative process, that is, how decisions are made and power is exercised in a democratic society and the constraints and limitations on the application of that power."
While it may not be easy or smooth, the legislative process is the engine that drives American democracy. And in each of America's 50 state capitals, the legislature is the basic democratic institution, where elected representatives make the laws that define the rights and obligations of citizenship. From determining how to fund government agencies to setting the policies of all the services the state provides - f
RENOWNED DOCUMENTARIAN FREDERICK WISEMAN EXPLORES THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS AT THE HEART OF DEMOCRACY IN STATE LEGISLATURE, PREMIERING JUNE 13 ON PBS
The Rocky Mountain state of Idaho is governed by "citizen" legislators - not career politicians. These lawmakers are, for the most part, farmers and ranchers, business men and women, lawyers, doctors, sales people, loggers, and teachers elected for two-year terms. During the 2004 Idaho state legislative session, these citizen legislators became an integral part of STATE LEGISLATURE, the latest documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.
In his ongoing project to explore contemporary American life as expressed in institutions, Wiseman turned his camera on the legislature to illustrate the way the democratic decision-making process works. In his trademark style, nothing is staged. Wiseman captures the lawmakers as they debate and discuss the concerns of the electorate, on issues that range from violence in schools, mad cow disease and video voyeurism to illegal immigration, secondhand smoke and the deregulation of telephone rates.
In Le Monde, Thomas Sotinel called STATE LEGISLATURE "(an) ode to representative democracy." Variety's review stated, "What emerges is the thoroughness with which the system treats even the most contentious of issues and eccentric of constituents." After a showing at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival, German film critic Ekkehard Knörer wrote, "One stands to gain nothing less than mind-boggling insights into the machinery of American democracy."
STATE LEGISLATURE premieres Wednesday, June 13 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). The film is presented nationwide on PBS by Thirteen/WNET New York, which has been the national presenter of Frederick Wiseman's films throughout his career. Wiseman, a three-time Emmy Award-winning director, has 34 documentary films to his credit, from the controversial Titicut Follies (1967) and High School (1968) to Near Death (1989), Public Housing (1997) and Domestic Violence (2001).
"This film shows the day-to-day aspects of the legislative process, the goal of which is the creation of the laws that govern the civic life depicted in my other films," said Wiseman. "Unlike a textbook description in a political science course of how a bill becomes a law, a film of a legislature can convey in a unique way the actuality of the legislative process, that is, how decisions are made and power is exercised in a democratic society and the constraints and limitations on the application of that power."
While it may not be easy or smooth, the legislative process is the engine that drives American democracy. And in each of America's 50 state capitals, the legislature is the basic democratic institution, where elected representatives make the laws that define the rights and obligations of citizenship. From determining how to fund government agencies to setting the policies of all the services the state provides - f