Titicut Follies

Titicut Follies
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFrederick Wiseman
Written byFrederick Wiseman
Produced byFrederick Wiseman
CinematographyJohn Marshall
Edited byFrederick Wiseman
Alyne Model
Production
company
Bridgewater Film
Distributed byGrove Press[1]
Release date
  • October 3, 1967 (1967-10-03)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Titicut Follies is a 1967 American direct cinema documentary film produced, written, and directed by Frederick Wiseman and filmed by John Marshall. It deals with the patient-inmates of Bridgewater State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, a Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The title is taken from that of a talent show put on by the hospital staff. Titicut is the Wampanoag name for the nearby Taunton River.

The film won accolades in Germany and Italy. Wiseman went on to produce many more such films examining social institutions (e.g. hospitals, police, schools, etc.) in the United States.

In 2022, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[2]

  1. ^ "Frederick Wiseman talks "Titicut Follies"". 18 April 2016.
  2. ^ Ulaby, Neda (December 14, 2022). "'Iron Man,' 'Super Fly' and 'Carrie' are inducted into the National Film Registry". NPR. Retrieved December 14, 2022.