James Benning

James Benning

Over the past thirty-five years James Benning (b. 1942) has played a central role in the history of American independent cinema by offering his rigorously structured yet wonderfully graceful films as extended meditations on the American landscape and its social and environmental histories. Benning’s life and work have been shaped by his passionate wanderlust—born in Milwaukee, he lived for intervals in Colorado, the Missouri Ozarks, Illinois and Oklahoma before settling in Val Verde, California in 1987, with car and motorcycle journeys around the country generating such films as I-94 (1975) and Four Corners (1997). His career has been equally restless, ranging from his early experimentation with an avant-garde aesthetic to his embrace, during the 1980s and 90s, of explicitly autobiographical elements and increased human content. With his “California Trilogy” (2000-2001) Benning entered a new phase, refining his formalist style and political concerns while distilling his abiding interest in place and exacting organizational structures.

  • Title: James Benning
  • Popularity: 1.536
  • Known For: Directing
  • Birthday: 1942-12-28
  • Place of Birth: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
  • Homepage:
  • Also Known As: 제임스 베닝, 제임스 배닝
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James Benning Movies

  • 2003
    imgMovies

    James Benning: Circling the Image

    James Benning: Circling the Image

    1 2003 HD

    The American filmmaker James Benning has been one of the outstanding exponents of the structural film since the mid-1970s. Bennings artistic position...

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  • 2013
    imgMovies

    Coming to Terms

    Coming to Terms

    7.2 2013 HD

    One day, father makes a shocking decision in a family gathering. The family disagrees with it and against him in the very beginning. However, they...

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  • 1970
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    California Trilogy

    California Trilogy

    1 1970 HD

    Produced at the junction of two millennia, the California Trilogy is James Benning's three-part topographical study of America's «Golden...

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  • 2013
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    Double Play: James Benning and Richard Linklater

    Double Play: James Benning and Richard Linklater

    6.3 2013 HD

    In 1985, former oil rig worker Richard Linklater began a film screening society in Austin, Texas, that aimed to show classic art-house and...

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  • 1975
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    The United States of America

    The United States of America

    7.6 1975 HD

    A conceptual bicentennial film dealing with spatial and temporal relationships between two travelers, their car, and the geographic, political, and...

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  • 2016
    imgMovies

    thinking of red

    thinking of red

    1 2016 HD

    A film by James Benning

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  • 1989
    imgMovies

    Used Innocence

    Used Innocence

    5.8 1989 HD

    Using experimental narrative structure as his vehicle, Benning recreates the sensationalized and controversial circumstances surrounding Lorencia...

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  • 2011
    imgMovies

    The Great Gatsby in Five Minutes

    The Great Gatsby in Five Minutes

    1 2011 HD

    The Fitzgerald classic as you've never seen it, transposed to a Los Angeles of sleek modern architecture and strip-mall foot clinics.

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  • 1970
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    Maintenance

    Maintenance

    3 1970 HD

    Maintenance is filmmaker Adele Horne’s exploration and meditation on house cleaning. Cleaning is one of the most private things we do in our...

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  • 2018
    imgMovies

    L. Cohen

    L. Cohen

    5.5 2018 HD

    A view of an Oregon farm field, observing a solar eclipse and incorporating a Leonard Cohen song.

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  • 2018
    imgMovies

    Telemundo

    Telemundo

    3.5 2018 HD

    James Benning watches tv with a young girl.

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  • 2021
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    Benning's Dream

    Benning's Dream

    1 2021 HD

    an excerpt of a conversation between James and I during the Fall of 2019 - Santa Clarita, CA

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  • 2019
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    中孚 61. The Inner Truth

    中孚 61. The Inner Truth

    1 2019 HD

    61. La Verdad Interior reveals the creative process behind TELEMUNDO [screened in the New Visions section], a collaborative film directed by James...

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  • 2020
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    She Dies Tomorrow

    She Dies Tomorrow

    5.2 2020 HD

    Amy is ravaged by the notion that she is going to die tomorrow, which sends her down a dizzying emotional spiral. When her skeptical friend Jane...

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  • 2020
    imgMovies

    On Paradise Road

    On Paradise Road

    1 2020 HD

    Filmed at Benning's home in Val Verde during the first month of the pandemic, the film is a portrait of that time.

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  • 1972
    imgMovies

    Time and a Half

    Time and a Half

    1 1972 HD

    Twenty-four hours in the life of a factory worker.

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  • 2019
    imgMovies

    daylight

    daylight

    1 2019 HD

    Benning's 18-minute study of moonfall in the morning sky-- A close cousin to his film "two moons". A lovely rendition of 'Moon River' accompanies the...

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  • 2004
    imgMovies

    13 Lakes

    13 Lakes

    6.9 2004 HD

    Shots of 13 great lakes in the USA, with each shot containing half water and half sky or land.

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  • 2009
    imgMovies

    Ruhr

    Ruhr

    6.583 2009 HD

    Seven entirely static shots make up James Benning's quiet reflection on existence in the Ruhr Valley.

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  • 2020
    imgMovies

    PLACE

    PLACE

    1 2020 HD

    James Benning’s PLACE is a multi-part work that deepens the artist’s longstanding engagement with marginalized artists and creators. Over...

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  • 1985
    imgMovies

    O Panama

    O Panama

    6 1985 HD

    O Panama features a man confined to his apartment on a winter day as he suffers through an illness. Built on the polarity between hot and cold, the...

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  • 1985
    imgMovies

    O Panama

    O Panama

    6 1985 HD

    O Panama features a man confined to his apartment on a winter day as he suffers through an illness. Built on the polarity between hot and cold, the...

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  • 1985
    imgMovies

    O Panama

    O Panama

    6 1985 HD

    O Panama features a man confined to his apartment on a winter day as he suffers through an illness. Built on the polarity between hot and cold, the...

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  • 1996
    imgMovies

    Deseret

    Deseret

    5.5 1996 HD

    This is multifaceted look at the landscape and history of Utah (or Deseret, as the Mormon Church prefers to call it). Benning condenses 93 news...

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  • 2011
    imgMovies

    Twenty Cigarettes

    Twenty Cigarettes

    3.3 2011 HD

    Celebrated for his minimal, monumental landscape studies, James Benning turns to the intimacy of the portrait in his latest film, TWENTY CIGARETTES....

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  • 1987
    imgMovies

    Landscape Suicide

    Landscape Suicide

    7.5 1987 HD

    Benning continues his examination of Americana in this film through the stories of two murderers. Ed Gein was a Wisconsin farmer and multiple...

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  • 2002
    imgMovies

    Sogobi

    Sogobi

    6.8 2002 HD

    Many films by this master of landscape cinema are cinematic studies of specific landscapes, as is the case with SOGOBI – the Shoshonean word...

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  • 2012
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    The War

    The War

    2.3 2012 HD

    A new video work by American avant-garde filmmaker James Benning explores the videos of Russian activist/activist-art group Voina (“war”).

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  • 2004
    imgMovies

    10 Skies

    10 Skies

    6.8 2004 HD

    Ten shots of skies.

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  • 2007
    imgMovies

    RR

    RR

    7.1 2007 HD

    Looping, chugging and barreling by, the trains in Benning's latest monumental film map a stunning topography and a history of American development....

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  • 1978
    imgMovies

    Grand Opera: An Historical Romance

    Grand Opera: An Historical Romance

    8 1978 HD

    Grand Opera marks a stock-taking of Benning's work and his life, presenting a personal and artistic autobiography woven together with a series of...

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  • 1997
    imgMovies

    Four Corners

    Four Corners

    6.2 1997 HD

    James Benning's "Four Corners" uses a specific geographical location to pose larger questions about the United States. Here, the geographic and...

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  • 1982
    imgMovies

    Him and Me

    Him and Me

    1 1982 HD

    "Him And Me" has Benning's hallmarks: pristine cinematography, a quasi-autobiographical stance, and a minimalist structure that juxtaposes concrete...

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  • 2001
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    Los

    Los

    6.4 2001 HD

    Los Angeles is depicted in 35 stationary shots, each 2 1/2 minutes long, in this non-narrative film, part 2 of Benning's "California Trilogy".

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  • 1999
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    El Valley Centro

    El Valley Centro

    7.2 1999 HD

    Experimental filmmaker James Benning returns with this abstract documentary about California's Central Valley, part 1 of his "California Trilogy"....

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  • 2007
    imgMovies

    Casting a Glance

    Casting a Glance

    7.4 2007 HD

    Casting a Glance is a tribute to the American artist Robert Smithson. Between May 15 2005 and January 14 2007, I made 16 trips to the Spiral Jetty....

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  • 2007
    imgMovies

    Casting a Glance

    Casting a Glance

    7.4 2007 HD

    Casting a Glance is a tribute to the American artist Robert Smithson. Between May 15 2005 and January 14 2007, I made 16 trips to the Spiral Jetty....

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  • 2007
    imgMovies

    Casting a Glance

    Casting a Glance

    7.4 2007 HD

    Casting a Glance is a tribute to the American artist Robert Smithson. Between May 15 2005 and January 14 2007, I made 16 trips to the Spiral Jetty....

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  • 2007
    imgMovies

    Casting a Glance

    Casting a Glance

    7.4 2007 HD

    Casting a Glance is a tribute to the American artist Robert Smithson. Between May 15 2005 and January 14 2007, I made 16 trips to the Spiral Jetty....

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  • 2007
    imgMovies

    Casting a Glance

    Casting a Glance

    7.4 2007 HD

    Casting a Glance is a tribute to the American artist Robert Smithson. Between May 15 2005 and January 14 2007, I made 16 trips to the Spiral Jetty....

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  • 2011
    imgMovies

    Small Roads

    Small Roads

    6.875 2011 HD

    Lengthy static shots of various backroads, smaller interstates, quieter roads, and lonely highways.

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  • 1998
    imgMovies

    Utopia

    Utopia

    1 1998 HD

    Except for some additional ambience, the entire sound track of this film has been taken (without permission) from: Ernesto Che Guevara, the Bolivian...

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  • 1989
    imgMovies

    Used Innocence

    Used Innocence

    5.8 1989 HD

    Using experimental narrative structure as his vehicle, Benning recreates the sensationalized and controversial circumstances surrounding Lorencia...

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  • 1977
    imgMovies

    11 x 14

    11 x 14

    6.9 1977 HD

    65 shots making up a cryptically alluded-to narrative: a lesbian couple's Midwest travels, a hitchhiking young man's journeys, the story of a man who...

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  • 1984
    imgMovies

    American Dreams (Lost and Found)

    American Dreams (Lost and Found)

    7.2 1984 HD

    Scrolling excerpts from the diary of George Wallace's would-be assassin Arthur Bremer at screen bottom, Hank Aaron cards and ephemera from his entire...

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  • 1974
    imgMovies

    8½ x 11

    8½ x 11

    1 1974 HD

    "Benning's landscape works, with their meticulous, reverential compositions, have been located in the history of American realist painting and...

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  • 2022
    imgMovies

    Exquisite Moving Corpse

    Exquisite Moving Corpse

    1 2022 HD

    The Surrealist, "Exquisite Corpse" was a French Café parlor game. "Exquisite Moving Corpse" is more of an artist chain letter. 60 artists...

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    Stemple Pass

    Stemple Pass

    8 2012 HD

    Four landscape shots containing a replica of Ted Kaczynski’s cabin, one shot per season. On the soundtrack, Benning reads extracts from...

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  • 1992
    imgMovies

    North on Evers

    North on Evers

    7.2 1992 HD

    In NORTH ON EVERS James Benning takes the road movie seriously, making his circular trip across the U.S. a marvelously photographed, intensely felt,...

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  • 2005
    imgMovies

    One Way Boogie Woogie/27 Years Later

    One Way Boogie Woogie/27 Years Later

    6.3 2005 HD

    One half filmed in 1977, one half filmed 27 years later.

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  • 2013
    imgMovies

    BNSF

    BNSF

    5.5 2013 HD

    A three hour shot containing light, dark, and a BNSF train in the desert.

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  • 1977
    imgMovies

    One Way Boogie Woogie

    One Way Boogie Woogie

    5.8 1977 HD

    Sixty one-minute shots with no camera movement. This tension between painterly and cinematic space is not only experienced as an intellectual...

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  • 2011
    imgMovies

    Two Cabins

    Two Cabins

    7 2011 HD

    Between July, 2007 and June, 2008, veteran independent film-maker,James Benning built replicas of two iconic American Cabins in a remote part of the...

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    Nightfall

    Nightfall

    6.2 2012 HD

    A stunning study of real-time light changing from day to night which was filmed in a forest high up in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    Easy Rider

    Easy Rider

    6.8 2012 HD

    'After doing a re-make of John Cassevetes’ "Faces" [1968], I decided to re-make another American classic, Dennis Hopper’s "Easy Rider"...

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    Postscript

    Postscript

    4 2012 HD

    Text by Theodore J. Kaczynski, made of scans of a document from an FBI Laboratory, about the danger of experiments with accelerated particles.

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  • 2011
    imgMovies

    Faces

    Faces

    1 2011 HD

    James Benning’s "remake" of John Cassavetes’s Faces (1968) is an unexpected venture into the world of found footage filmmaking. As...

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  • 1970
    imgMovies

    Did You Ever Hear That Cricket Sound?

    Did You Ever Hear That Cricket Sound?

    1 1970 HD

    In this short black and white study Benning uses dissolves, shifting camera angles and cross-fades to experiment with narrative structure.

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  • 1970
    imgMovies

    3 Minutes on the Dangers of Film Recording

    3 Minutes on the Dangers of Film Recording

    1 1970 HD

    At Northwestern University, where he teaches at the time, Benning gives a short interview to some student filmmakers. He then uses this material to...

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  • 1970
    imgMovies

    Cuba, an Historical Romance

    Cuba, an Historical Romance

    1 1970 HD

    Stills from a trip in Cuba.

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  • 2011
    imgMovies

    YouTube Trilogy

    YouTube Trilogy

    5.7 2011 HD

    Director James Benning turned his attention to the digital world in YouTube Trilogy, organizing found material around three thematic clusters.

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  • 2011
    imgMovies

    After Warhol

    After Warhol

    5 2011 HD

    I just a did a film with my ‘Acting Bad’ class called After Warhol, where we watched a few of the Warhol screen tests and then mimicked...

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  • 1976
    imgMovies

    Chicago Loop

    Chicago Loop

    1 1976 HD

    In three virtuosic sequences created entirely in-camera, Benning alternates contrary camera movements in a trio of Chicago locations with increasing...

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  • 2022
    imgMovies

    TEN YEARS LATER

    TEN YEARS LATER

    1 2022 HD

    James Benning returns to the location of his 2012 film Nightfall, this time at daybreak.

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    One Way Boogie Woogie

    One Way Boogie Woogie

    8.2 2012 HD

    In summer 2011, James Benning returned to his hometown of Milwaukee to make a third version of his seminal 1977 film 'One Way Boogie Woogie'. In 1977...

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  • 2010
    imgMovies

    Pig Iron

    Pig Iron

    7.2 2010 HD

    Iron ore is super heated in a blast furnace to make pig iron, which in turn is used to produce steel. The making of steel is a continuous process....

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  • 2010
    imgMovies

    Pig Iron

    Pig Iron

    7.2 2010 HD

    Iron ore is super heated in a blast furnace to make pig iron, which in turn is used to produce steel. The making of steel is a continuous process....

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  • 2010
    imgMovies

    Pig Iron

    Pig Iron

    7.2 2010 HD

    Iron ore is super heated in a blast furnace to make pig iron, which in turn is used to produce steel. The making of steel is a continuous process....

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  • 2010
    imgMovies

    Pig Iron

    Pig Iron

    7.2 2010 HD

    Iron ore is super heated in a blast furnace to make pig iron, which in turn is used to produce steel. The making of steel is a continuous process....

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  • 1984
    imgMovies

    Pascal's Lemma

    Pascal's Lemma

    1 1984 HD

    Presented on a computer, "Pascal's Lemma" features mathematics (diagrams, equations, questions), biographical information about Blaise Pascal, and...

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  • 2014
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    Natural History

    Natural History

    5.4 2014 HD

    In 54 static shots, Benning provides a picture of the Natural History Museum in Vienna. With the exception of the first three shots, he chooses areas...

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  • 2022
    imgMovies

    Allensworth

    Allensworth

    8 2022 HD

    It centers on Allensworth, the first self-administered African-American municipality in California, showcasing the buildings of the now-abandoned...

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  • 2008
    imgMovies

    Lunch Break

    Lunch Break

    7.4 2008 HD

    Lunch Break features 42 workers as they take their midday break in a corridor stretching nearly the entire shipyard.

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  • 2014
    imgMovies

    US 41

    US 41

    1 2014 HD

    A stretch of highway blanketed by snow becomes the stage for one accident after another in US 41, perhaps Benning’s first disaster movie, or a...

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  • 2014
    imgMovies

    HF

    HF

    4 2014 HD

    HF is Benning’s tribute in miniature to legendary filmmaker Hollis Frampton, known for his materialist dissection of the cinema apparatus and...

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  • 2014
    imgMovies

    signs

    signs

    1 2014 HD

    signs is a sobering continuation of Benning’s career-long interest with the written word as image, text as vision: a silent parade of stills...

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  • 2015
    imgMovies

    Santa Teresa & Other Stories

    Santa Teresa & Other Stories

    5.4 2015 HD

    In the fictional city of Santa Teresa, located on the border between Mexico and USA, the researcher Juan de Dios Martínez straddles the line...

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  • 2018
    imgMovies

    SAM

    SAM

    1 2018 HD

    A filmed homage to Sam Shepard, in a single fixed frame where the treetops sway under a moving cloud cover. Orchestrated by the camera in this forest...

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    Stemple Pass

    Stemple Pass

    8 2012 HD

    Four landscape shots containing a replica of Ted Kaczynski’s cabin, one shot per season. On the soundtrack, Benning reads extracts from...

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    Stemple Pass

    Stemple Pass

    8 2012 HD

    Four landscape shots containing a replica of Ted Kaczynski’s cabin, one shot per season. On the soundtrack, Benning reads extracts from...

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    Stemple Pass

    Stemple Pass

    8 2012 HD

    Four landscape shots containing a replica of Ted Kaczynski’s cabin, one shot per season. On the soundtrack, Benning reads extracts from...

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  • 2022
    imgMovies

    The United States of America

    The United States of America

    5.5 2022 HD

    A crisscross through the USA, carving it up into a series of static shots of just under two minutes, one for each state, presented alphabetically,...

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  • 2010
    imgMovies

    Faces 1973

    Faces 1973

    5 2010 HD

    One of the films I remade was a film that used two faces in it from a short little three-minute film that I made for the Henry Mancini television...

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  • 1974
    imgMovies

    Michigan Avenue

    Michigan Avenue

    6 1974 HD

    A narrative film concerning an investigation of two women in time and space, to the point where the investigation becomes the narrative.

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  • 1974
    imgMovies

    I-94

    I-94

    5.4 1974 HD

    Intercourse between two people who never appear on the screen at the same time. An exploration of sex and male/female identities.

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  • 1975
    imgMovies

    The United States of America

    The United States of America

    7.6 1975 HD

    A conceptual bicentennial film dealing with spatial and temporal relationships between two travelers, their car, and the geographic, political, and...

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  • 2005
    imgMovies

    74.78

    74.78

    1 2005 HD

    The 16mm test roll for James Benning's feature-length film TEN SKIES. 74.78 is part of Mike Plante's Lunchfilm series of commissioned shorts (made...

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  • 2009
    imgMovies

    Fire & Rain

    Fire & Rain

    8 2009 HD

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  • 2016
    imgMovies

    Measuring Change

    Measuring Change

    5.7 2016 HD

    Towards the end of 2015, James Benning made one of his occasional expeditions to Utah, to the place where Robert Smithson's colossal land-sculpture...

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  • 2010
    imgMovies

    Among Enemies: Jeonju Digital Project 2010

    Among Enemies: Jeonju Digital Project 2010

    1 2010 HD

    Six soldiers wandering in search of enemies in the forest where they can't see an inch ahead. While gathering on the island to prepare Shakespeare's...

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  • 2016
    imgMovies

    Spring Equinox

    Spring Equinox

    1 2016 HD

    As we ascend a mountain, we move backwards in time. Like most of Benning's films, Spring Equinox is at once direct and mystical. Simple images and...

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  • 2024
    imgMovies

    Breathless

    Breathless

    1 2024 HD

    "On November 28, 2023 I woke up early and drove down to the Upper Kern River. I came to film a tree. It's leaves were orange. The shot would be 87...

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    20 Little Films

    20 Little Films

    1 2012 HD

    Each year since 1995, the Viennale has asked a great, international director to make his or her own personal contribution to the festival: a...

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  • 2010
    imgMovies

    John Krieg Exiting the Falk Corporation in 1971

    John Krieg Exiting the Falk Corporation in 1971

    1 2010 HD

    James Benning appropriates a 14-second excerpt from his own film Time and a Half (second entry in his filmography), dissects the scene into its...

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  • 2016
    imgMovies

    Ash 01

    Ash 01

    1 2016 HD

    "Ash 01 is a declassified recording made from a B-52 bomber on December 26, 1972 during the Christmas carpet bombing of Hanoi." - James Benning. This...

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  • 2016
    imgMovies

    scorched earth

    scorched earth

    1 2016 HD

    "scorched earth is a film that is part of the Untitled Fragments Project. It's 60 minutes at dusk, just one shot of the burned over forest (from this...

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  • 2016
    imgMovies

    Fall Equinox

    Fall Equinox

    1 2016 HD

    A film by James Benning

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  • 2016
    imgMovies

    thinking of red

    thinking of red

    1 2016 HD

    A film by James Benning

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  • 2016
    imgMovies

    wavelength

    wavelength

    1 2016 HD

    A found footage remake of Michael Snow's Wavelength

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  • 2017
    imgMovies

    Untitled Fragments

    Untitled Fragments

    1 2017 HD

    The 3-channel video installation brings together four histories: the 1860s scorched earth policy of Kit Carson used to drive out the Navajos from...

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  • 2022
    imgMovies

    Allensworth

    Allensworth

    8 2022 HD

    It centers on Allensworth, the first self-administered African-American municipality in California, showcasing the buildings of the now-abandoned...

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  • 2007
    imgMovies

    Water Spell

    Water Spell

    7 2007 HD

    "Sandy Ding's WATER SPELL is a bold, abstract journey that takes us into the psychic interior of our very cellular structure... and back. For me,...

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  • 1987
    imgMovies

    Landscape Suicide

    Landscape Suicide

    7.5 1987 HD

    Benning continues his examination of Americana in this film through the stories of two murderers. Ed Gein was a Wisconsin farmer and multiple...

    img
  • 2017
    imgMovies

    Readers

    Readers

    4.5 2017 HD

    Composed of just four shots in which Clara McHale-Ribot, Rachel Kushner, Richard Hebdige, and Simone Forti read quietly to themselves, the film...

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  • 1989
    imgMovies

    Used Innocence

    Used Innocence

    5.8 1989 HD

    Using experimental narrative structure as his vehicle, Benning recreates the sensationalized and controversial circumstances surrounding Lorencia...

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  • 2018
    imgMovies

    L. Cohen

    L. Cohen

    5.5 2018 HD

    A view of an Oregon farm field, observing a solar eclipse and incorporating a Leonard Cohen song.

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  • 1978
    imgMovies

    Grand Opera: An Historical Romance

    Grand Opera: An Historical Romance

    8 1978 HD

    Grand Opera marks a stock-taking of Benning's work and his life, presenting a personal and artistic autobiography woven together with a series of...

    img
  • 1985
    imgMovies

    O Panama

    O Panama

    6 1985 HD

    O Panama features a man confined to his apartment on a winter day as he suffers through an illness. Built on the polarity between hot and cold, the...

    img
  • 2015
    imgMovies

    Perimeter

    Perimeter

    1 2015 HD

    Short by James Benning.

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  • 2010
    imgMovies

    Tulare Road

    Tulare Road

    1 2010 HD

    Three-channel HD video (color/sound), 18 minutes

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  • 2019
    imgMovies

    The Wrecker Kings

    The Wrecker Kings

    1 2019 HD

    The owner of a failing inn and his roadkill collector friend devise a Bigfoot hoax to draw in tourists, but a Miccosukee Hunter is set to make sure...

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  • 2004
    imgMovies

    10 Skies

    10 Skies

    6.8 2004 HD

    Ten shots of skies.

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  • 2018
    imgMovies

    glory

    glory

    8 2018 HD

    glory is a film about the present, about America and its history of abuse.

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  • 2009
    imgMovies

    Ruhr

    Ruhr

    6.583 2009 HD

    Seven entirely static shots make up James Benning's quiet reflection on existence in the Ruhr Valley.

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  • 2016
    imgMovies

    Fresh Air

    Fresh Air

    1 2016 HD

    Last week I made a film of 49 of my T-shirts called Fresh Air. It was to be purely structural. For sound I recorded (in sync) the quiet ambience of...

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  • 1995
    imgMovies

    Panama: Exploring the Panama Canal

    Panama: Exploring the Panama Canal

    1 1995 HD

    Exploring the Panama Canal is a fascinating journey through the land of mystery and adventure and the Canal that divides it. Through rare archival...

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  • 1977
    imgMovies

    One Way Boogie Woogie

    One Way Boogie Woogie

    5.8 1977 HD

    Sixty one-minute shots with no camera movement. This tension between painterly and cinematic space is not only experienced as an intellectual...

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  • 2015
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    52 Films

    52 Films

    1 2015 HD

    [...] And then there’s the largest and fastest growing archive of all time, the Internet, and in particular YouTube. I started here playfully...

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  • 2014
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    Concord Woods

    Concord Woods

    1 2014 HD

    In James Benning’s film Concord Woods (2014), we watch a replica of Henry David Thoreau’s famous cabin at Walden Pond. The cabin is first...

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  • 2009
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    Ruhr

    Ruhr

    6.583 2009 HD

    Seven entirely static shots make up James Benning's quiet reflection on existence in the Ruhr Valley.

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  • 2009
    imgMovies

    Ruhr

    Ruhr

    6.583 2009 HD

    Seven entirely static shots make up James Benning's quiet reflection on existence in the Ruhr Valley.

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  • 2009
    imgMovies

    Ruhr

    Ruhr

    6.583 2009 HD

    Seven entirely static shots make up James Benning's quiet reflection on existence in the Ruhr Valley.

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  • 2018
    imgMovies

    Telemundo

    Telemundo

    3.5 2018 HD

    James Benning watches tv with a young girl.

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  • 2018
    imgMovies

    Telemundo

    Telemundo

    3.5 2018 HD

    James Benning watches tv with a young girl.

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  • 1975
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    9-1-75

    9-1-75

    1 1975 HD

    Twenty-two minute tracking shot through campgrounds in Southern Wisconsin

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    Easy Rider

    Easy Rider

    6.8 2012 HD

    'After doing a re-make of John Cassevetes’ "Faces" [1968], I decided to re-make another American classic, Dennis Hopper’s "Easy Rider"...

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    Easy Rider

    Easy Rider

    6.8 2012 HD

    'After doing a re-make of John Cassevetes’ "Faces" [1968], I decided to re-make another American classic, Dennis Hopper’s "Easy Rider"...

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    Easy Rider

    Easy Rider

    6.8 2012 HD

    'After doing a re-make of John Cassevetes’ "Faces" [1968], I decided to re-make another American classic, Dennis Hopper’s "Easy Rider"...

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    Easy Rider

    Easy Rider

    6.8 2012 HD

    'After doing a re-make of John Cassevetes’ "Faces" [1968], I decided to re-make another American classic, Dennis Hopper’s "Easy Rider"...

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  • 2019
    imgMovies

    Two Moons

    Two Moons

    5 2019 HD

    Filmed on November 21 and 22, 2018 in Valencia, California. A gibbous and full moon rising.

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  • 2012
    imgMovies

    All That She Surveys

    All That She Surveys

    1 2012 HD

    A short film by Gary Mairs written by James Benning. Stars Amy Seimetz.

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  • 2018
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    Birth of a Nation

    Birth of a Nation

    1 2018 HD

    This three-channel video installation by James Benning shows three scenes from David Wark Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915). The...

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  • 2010
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    Reforming the Past

    Reforming the Past

    1 2010 HD

    For his performance Reforming the Past, James Benning turns towards his own film North on Evers, shot in 1991. After seeing Andy Warhol's Screen...

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  • 2011
    imgMovies

    Twenty Cigarettes

    Twenty Cigarettes

    3.3 2011 HD

    Celebrated for his minimal, monumental landscape studies, James Benning turns to the intimacy of the portrait in his latest film, TWENTY CIGARETTES....

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  • 2020
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    Maggie's Farm

    Maggie's Farm

    1 2020 HD

    The portrait of an art institution: James Benning explores the building and grounds of the California Institute of Art. Each image creates a tension,...

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  • 2014
    imgMovies

    FUCK ME (green)

    FUCK ME (green)

    1 2014 HD

    A short film about masculinity

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  • 2014
    imgMovies

    FUCK ME (orange)

    FUCK ME (orange)

    1 2014 HD

    A short film about femininity

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  • 1987
    imgMovies

    Landscape Suicide

    Landscape Suicide

    7.5 1987 HD

    Benning continues his examination of Americana in this film through the stories of two murderers. Ed Gein was a Wisconsin farmer and multiple...

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  • 1987
    imgMovies

    Landscape Suicide

    Landscape Suicide

    7.5 1987 HD

    Benning continues his examination of Americana in this film through the stories of two murderers. Ed Gein was a Wisconsin farmer and multiple...

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  • 1987
    imgMovies

    Landscape Suicide

    Landscape Suicide

    7.5 1987 HD

    Benning continues his examination of Americana in this film through the stories of two murderers. Ed Gein was a Wisconsin farmer and multiple...

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  • 2020
    imgMovies

    Maggie's Farm

    Maggie's Farm

    1 2020 HD

    The portrait of an art institution: James Benning explores the building and grounds of the California Institute of Art. Each image creates a tension,...

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  • 2020
    imgMovies

    Maggie's Farm

    Maggie's Farm

    1 2020 HD

    The portrait of an art institution: James Benning explores the building and grounds of the California Institute of Art. Each image creates a tension,...

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  • 2020
    imgMovies

    Maggie's Farm

    Maggie's Farm

    1 2020 HD

    The portrait of an art institution: James Benning explores the building and grounds of the California Institute of Art. Each image creates a tension,...

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  • 2020
    imgMovies

    On Paradise Road

    On Paradise Road

    1 2020 HD

    Filmed at Benning's home in Val Verde during the first month of the pandemic, the film is a portrait of that time.

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  • 1977
    imgMovies

    11 x 14

    11 x 14

    6.9 1977 HD

    65 shots making up a cryptically alluded-to narrative: a lesbian couple's Midwest travels, a hitchhiking young man's journeys, the story of a man who...

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  • 1977
    imgMovies

    11 x 14

    11 x 14

    6.9 1977 HD

    65 shots making up a cryptically alluded-to narrative: a lesbian couple's Midwest travels, a hitchhiking young man's journeys, the story of a man who...

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  • 1977
    imgMovies

    11 x 14

    11 x 14

    6.9 1977 HD

    65 shots making up a cryptically alluded-to narrative: a lesbian couple's Midwest travels, a hitchhiking young man's journeys, the story of a man who...

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  • 2020
    imgMovies

    Dancing in the Street, 11 grados de separación

    Dancing in the Street, 11 grados de separación

    1 2020 HD

    After having shared a common experience in Cuba, twelve filmmakers say goodbye to return to their countries and make a pact: to make a collective...

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  • 2021
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    From Bakersfield to Mojave

    From Bakersfield to Mojave

    1 2021 HD

    A document of one of the most famous 66 miles of railroad track in the world including the Tehachapi Loop.

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  • 2018
    imgMovies

    after Traylor. Thoreau cabin (2008-2018)

    after Traylor. Thoreau cabin (2008-2018)

    1 2018 HD

    One-hour-documentation of James Benning's participation in the Moving Billboard project.

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