“Eight years after Titicut Follies, Wiseman released his 10th film: Welfare, an almost three-hour look at the welfare system. Wiseman spent about four weeks in February and March 1973 at the Waverly Welfare Center in lower Manhattan, which is clearly groaning under the weight of bureaucratic work it has to manage in order to serve those requesting its services. And that’s a lot of people: In 1973, America was not just nearing the end of Nixon’s presidency but commencing a recession that would still be in effect when the film was released two years later. Welfare at times feels like the real-life, ensemble-cast version of a Kafka novel. The entire film is set in the center, and much of it consists of conversations between people: those who are looking for help, those who are trying to grant it (or not), and those who manage the traffic flow. Some of what happens will be familiar to anyone who’s tangled with American bureaucracy — being sent from one floor to another, endless line-waiting, never really knowing what the result will be. Other parts are more sobering; people who obviously need help because of physical and mental health issues, misfortune, and desperation struggle to get what they need. Welfare can feel both dark and funny, but it’s always very human. Without interjecting anything outside of the center into the film — no commentary, no context — it becomes very clear that the system is broken, and that a fix will not be easy to come by.” – Alissa Wilkinson, Vox
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“Welfare is an inside look at one of the key institutions around which society functions… and like his other films it is profoundly disturbing, especially for those with preconceptions … As Wiseman’s film shows, a welfare centre is a battleground with the poor fighting desperately against a complex web of Catch 22 regulations that can defeat even the strongest and cleverest… An amazing film.” –Ken Wlaschin, London Film Festival Program, 1975
