National Gallery

The National Gallery in London houses one of the most important collections of paintings in the world. Frederick Wiseman and his longstanding cameraman John Davey filmed the institution for 12 weeks, exploring the exhibitions but also administrative meetings and restoration work. The question of art education received special attention. How can the art be communicated to different groups of visitors? And: How can art be depicted on film? “This is the principal thing the movie is about: different ways of looking and different ways of telling a story. In an abstract way, one of the things the movie is about is how you tell a story in film, how you tell a story in painting, how you tell a story with words.” (Frederick Wiseman) (hb)