James Benning Movies

Named after the Shoshonean word for "Earth", this is the third and final part of Benning's "California Trilogy" and his approach to the Californian...

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

Los Angeles is depicted in 35 stationary shots, each 2½ minutes long, in this non-narrative film, part 2 of Benning's "California Trilogy".

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

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

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

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

Made over 15 years, Adulthood is a feature composed of six short films, each chapter following a couple as they grow older without necessarily...

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...

A filmic paean to artist Robert Smithson's legendary "earthwork" sculpture, the Spiral Jetty. Created in 1970, the Jetty is a 1,500-foot long...

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

"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...

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

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...

Shots of 8 bridges from the continental United States - the Golden Gate Bridge from Sausalito, California; the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge from Arroyo...

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

A found footage remake of Michael Snow's Wavelength

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

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

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,...