James Benning Movies

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

Stills from a trip in Cuba.

"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...

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

A short film about femininity

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

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

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...

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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...

Video essay providing a brief introduction to the work of James Benning for his exhibition at neugerriemschneider.

James Benning, USA, 1988, 3m.