We’re all into storytelling…and authenticity.  No one does it better than the legendary film documentarian Fred Wiseman, whose latest film “La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet” has just opened to rave reviews.

Wiseman, a Yale Law School graduate, quit his job as a law professor at the age of 37 and made his first documentary, “Titicut Follies.”  Since then he has made an additional 35 documentaries, each a gem in storytelling and authenticity.

Wiseman’s documentaries have no narration. The words and images of the participants tell the story. And what a story it inevitably is!  Anyone truly interested in storytelling and authenticity will enjoy and benefit from an immersion in this man’s remarkable work.  He captures the human experience in such a wide variety of contexts: from mental institution to high school to a welfare center or even a ski resort.

Watching a Wiseman film, you don’t feel manipulated (as you often do in documentaries).  Instead you feel totally present in the context he is portraying.  The judgments you make are entirely your own.  In some wonderful way, you become part of the film.  And isn’t that what we’re all trying to do with our communications?

Going to Netflix this evening, I was disappointed to see that none of the classic Wiseman films are there.  Hopefully they are in libraries or other sources.  If you have not seen one, find a way to treat yourself to the work of the master.  It will inform and inspire you for sure.