James Benning Movies

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...

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

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

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...

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

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...

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...

Short by James Benning.

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

A film looking at the past to warn about the future, from a little boy's point of view. A companion to ‘American Dreams (lost and found)’...

James Benning, USA, 1988, 3m.

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

Stills from a trip in Cuba.

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

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

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

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

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...

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