a 1964 film based on Warren Miller’s novel, an experience that informed his desire to direct. He drafted a proposal that was verbally agreed to by the superintendent, which later came into question when the film began distribution. Following that agreement filming began, with corrections staff following Wiseman at all times and determining on the spot whether the subjects filmed were mentally competent, adding further confusion to an already fraught process.[1] While on location Wiseman recorded the sound and directed the cameraman with his microphone or hand directions. As his cameraman, he hired John Marshall, an established ethnographic filmmaker.[2]

Wiseman and Marshall spent 29 days documenting the conditions at Bridgewater and shot 80,000 feet of film. Wiseman then spent approximately a year cutting the footage into the final 84-minuteviolations of the patients' privacy and dignity.[6]

Wiseman appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which in 1969 allowed it to be shown only to doctors, lawyers, judges, health-care professionals, social workers, and students in these and related fields.[3] Wiseman appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case.[5]

Wiseman believes that the government of Massachusetts, concerned that the film portrayed a state institution in a bad light, intervened to protect its reputation. The state intervened after a social worker in Minnesota wrote to Massachusetts Governor John Volpe expressing shock at a scene involving a naked man being taunted by a guard.[3]

The dispute was the first known instance in American history of a film being banned from general distribution for reasons other than obscenity, immorality or