Canal Zone

Frederick Wiseman takes a hard look at the social and political climate around the Panama Canal Zone in CANAL ZONE, a 1977 documentary.

Wiseman captures a series of scenes during the 1976 Bicentennial, in which American "Zonians" dominate the Panamanian land area established in a 1903 treaty to allow safe ship passage. The film begins with a tour guide explaining to a rapt audience the detailed operational processes of moving a ship through the canal locks. Meanwhile, native Panamanians cart food and animals on the docks. Inland, Governor Harold Parfitt tells an audience how he intends to make more money for the Zone by reducing the workforce, raising taxes and ...