At Berkeley

Frederick Wiseman has dedicated the past four decades to documenting how people function inside of institutions. In recent films such as BOXING GYM and CRAZY HORSE, he focused on modest-sized enterprises. Now he turns to one of the most sprawling and complex organizations of his career: the pre-eminent University of California, Berkeley. Wiseman and cameraman John Davey embedded themselves at the school during the fall of 2010 while a vigorous debate was taking place over tuition hikes and budget cuts. The resulting four-hour film gives us unrestrained access inside classrooms, student protests, and administrative meetings, as newcomers and old-timers alike hash out the future of higher education in the United States. (Thom Powers)