In two powerful documentaries about one of America’s most devastating social issues, filmmaker Frederick Wiseman turns his unflinching camera on Domestic Violence.

For the past 35 years, Frederick Wiseman has meticulously documented a unique and penetrating view of American social relations and the institutions that try to mediate them. Now, in a pair of films as challenging and courageous as any he has made, Wiseman presents the harrowing circumstances of Domestic Violence. From the police responding to brutal abuse calls, to women and children being counseled at a shelter (Domestic Violence), and to couples and individuals trying to seek resolution and justice in the courts (Domestic Violence 2), Wiseman approaches Domestic Violence in his trademark style, eschewing narration and letting the camera and the editing reveal the true dimensions of his daunting subject.

Domestic Violence and Domestic Violence 2 were 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 over 30 documentary films to his credit, from the controversial Titicut Follies (1967) to High School (1968) to Public Housing (1997).

Domestic Violence and Domestic Violence 2 were both filmed in Tampa, Florida, taking this southern city as a microcosm for an issue that affects Americans of every race, class, age, and gender in every corner of the country.

ABOUT THE FILMS
Domestic Violence
Filmed over a two-month period, Domestic Violence focuses on abuse in the home from the point at which it boils over into crisis. The film begins with the police responding to Domestic Violence calls from couples – sometimes in the middle of an argument that threatens to escalate, sometimes from victims who are already bloody and bruised.

The film then turns its attention to The Spring, the largest shelter in Tampa, serving about 1,650 adults and children annually. Here, Wiseman documents intake interviews, counseling sessions, group therapy, staff meetings, and conversations among clients and between clients and staff. Since two-thirds of the residents at the shelter are children, the film also follows school activities and therapy sessions for children who have experienced the trauma of Domestic Violence. Throughout, in a quietly gripping ballet between despair and hope, Wiseman’s camera captures shocking stories of abuse – all the more startling because of the matter-of-fact way in which the abused tell them – and reveals the systems that exist to try to help victims reclaim their lives.

Domestic Violence, which was shown at film festivals and in a limited theatrical release in 2001 and 2002, garnered many positive reviews. “Domestic Violence is one of [Frederick Wiseman’s] greatest films,” wrote Kent Jones in Film Comment. The film “shocks us out of our complacency,” wrote Elvis Mitchell in The New York Times, noting that Domestic Violence “is ultimately the most compassionate of all the Wiseman films.” According to David Denby of The New Yorker, “Domestic Violence examines the ambiguous nature of human bonds, the nightmare versions of romance and family love.” Considering one of the victims who appears in the film, Peter Rainer wrote in New York magazine that “I have never seen as much unalloyed bravery in a movie.”

Domestic Violence 2
Domestic Violence 2 picks up, in a sense, where Domestic Violence leaves off, showing how the state’s legal system deals with Domestic Violence. Filmed over eight weeks in Hillsborough County, Tampa, Florida, the film documents cases in the courts as they deal with such issues as bail, bonds, release pending trial, the specific context of injunctions, restraining orders, defining bounds for parental contact with children, support payments, and the courts’ rulings on fault and punishment. Just as the interviews and counseling sessions in Domestic Violence reveal astonishing stories of abuse and conflict, Domestic Violence 2’s exchanges between judges, lawyers and victims elicit riveting stories of couples’ conflicts and the ensuing violence that led them to court.

Cases are heard in multiple settings: the arraignment, injunction and misdemeanor courts. In the arraignment court the judge sentences offenders who plead guilty via closed circuit TV, and also makes decisions about releasing people on bond before they stand trial. In the injunction and misdemeanor courts, both men and women face Domestic Violence charges. Viewers meet the two halves of a couple, each of whom has committed serial acts of Domestic Violence against each other; he struck her, she tried to run him over. The film also introduces a pregnant woman who has been hit by her boyfriend, an act which automatically qualifies as a felony. In some cases the plaintiffs want to drop charges, but the judge will not allow it. On a number of other occasions, the prosecuting party simply doesn’t show up and the case is dismissed.

The Domestic Violence and Domestic Violence 2 television presentations are produced by Domestic Violence Film, Inc. and released by Zipporah Films, Inc. in association with Thirteen/WNET New York. Both films are directed, produced and edited by Frederick Wiseman. Photography is by John Davey. Stephen Segaller is executive producer for Thirteen/WNET New York.