doubleVISION

Two Great Artists Collaborate To Create Beauty From Tragedy

Forty-odd years ago, filmmaker Frederick Wiseman’s unsparing documentary about a Massachusetts prison for the criminally insane shook the community’s healthcare, political and justice systems. Wiseman had obtained permission from the institution and the inmate’s family members to document activities in the prison, but the film, titled “Titicut Follies,” was nonetheless banned before its premiere at the 1967 New York Film Festival.

Wiseman is reluctant to take credit for changes in the treatment of psychotic inmates at the institution. But some psychologists regard the film as instrumental in leading to improvements in the treatment of the criminally insane.

Wiseman, now 88, has made one film almost every year since 1967. Each film deals with an aspect of contemporary life as it is reflected in our cultural, social and governmental institutions. Four of his films are about dance, which he loves. During his time as a resident artist at New York University’s Center for Ballet and the Arts, Wiseman contacted Minneapolis-based choreographer James Sewell and asked him to create a ballet based on “Titicut Follies.”

“I had seen many contemporary ballets where the subject was relationships, but few ballets that were concerned with the many other aspects of life that I have observed in making documentary films,” says Wiseman. “Since ballet is about movement, I thought that perhaps the tics, obsessive, repetitive and compulsive behavior of people categorized as criminally insane might make an interesting subject for a ballet.”

Sewell was fascinated by the request but had trouble imagining how to go about creating a ballet from a documentary. Still, he said “yes.” As with the film, the ballet is organized around an inmate and staff variety show. James Sewell Ballet premiered the work to rave reviews at NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts in 2017, the same year Wiseman won an honorary Oscar for his achievements in documentary filmmaking.

This spring, the two visionary men and the entire dance company come to MSUM for four days of activities that culminate in a performance of “Titicut Follies: The Ballet” on April 27 at 7:30 p.m. in Hansen Theatre. Planned activities include a free screening of the documentary film at The Fargo Theatre on Friday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m., followed by a question and answer session with Wiseman. MSUM film students will also meet Wiseman at a filmmaking masterclass.

“Titicut Follies: The Ballet” is a powerful, fascinating work that is not suitable for young children. The ballet interprets Wiseman’s candid look at the lives of psychotic people and the often cruel treatment they received in prison. But though the subject matter is challenging, it is not grim.

“‘Titicut Follies’ spans such a huge breadth of humanity, from things that are tragic and horrifying to things that are humorous and tender,” says Sewell. “One of the great challenges with ‘Titicut’ was how to find beauty within such great ugliness within our society. It will be a wild ride. I think people will be touched and horrified, and have a large emotional journey.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION about the events involving Frederick Wiseman and James Sewell Ballet, contact Rebecca Sundet-Schoenwald at 218-477-2178 or sundetre@mnstate.edu.