James Benning

Directing·Dec 28, 1942·Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

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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.

Film	Credit
Eight Bridges2026 · Director	Director
Little Boy2025 · Director	Director
CCuba, an Historical Romance2024 · Director	Director
Breathless2024 · Director	Director
Allensworth2022 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
TEN YEARS LATER2022 · Director	Director
Exquisite Moving Corpse2022 · Director	Director
The United States of America2022 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
In Process...2021 · Director	Director
From Bakersfield to Mojave2021 · Director	Director
DDancing in the Street, 11 grados de separación2020 · Director	Director
On Paradise Road2020 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
PLACE2020 · Director	Director
Maggie's Farm2020 · Director, Writer, Director of Photography	Director, Writer, Director of Photography
daylight2019 · Director	Director
Two Moons2019 · Director	Director
Telemundo2018 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
after Traylor. Thoreau cabin (2008-2018)2018 · Director	Director
glory2018 · Director	Director
BBirth of a Nation2018 · Director	Director
L. Cohen2018 · Director	Director
SSAM2018 · Director	Director
Readers2017 · Director	Director
UUntitled Fragments2017 · Director	Director
sscorched earth2016 · Director	Director
AAsh 012016 · Director	Director
tthinking of red2016 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
Fall Equinox2016 · Director	Director
wwavelength2016 · Director	Director
Spring Equinox2016 · Director	Director
Measuring Change2016 · Director	Director
FFresh Air2016 · Director	Director
Perimeter2015 · Director	Director
52 Films2015 · Director	Director
CConcord Woods2014 · Director	Director
Natural History2014 · Director	Director
UUS 412014 · Director	Director
signs2014 · Director	Director
HHF2014 · Director	Director
FFUCK ME (green)2014 · Director	Director
FFUCK ME (orange)2014 · Director	Director
BNSF2013 · Director	Director
The War2012 · Director	Director
One Way Boogie Woogie2012 · Director	Director
Easy Rider2012 · Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Producer	Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Producer
Stemple Pass2012 · Ted Kaczynski (voice), Director, Producer, Director of Photography	Ted Kaczynski (voice), Director, Producer, Director of Photography
Postscript2012 · Director	Director
Nightfall2012 · Director	Director
20 Little Films2012 · Director	Director
After Warhol2011 · Director	Director
Faces2011 · Director	Director
Small Roads2011 · Director	Director
Two Cabins2011 · Director	Director
YouTube Trilogy: 4 Songs, History, Asian Girls2011 · Director	Director
Twenty Cigarettes2011 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Tulare Road2010 · Director	Director
Pig Iron2010 · Producer, Writer, Director, Director of Photography	Producer, Writer, Director, Director of Photography
RReforming the Past2010 · Director	Director
FFaces 19732010 · Director	Director
Among Enemies: Jeonju Digital Project 20102010 · Director	Director
John Krieg Exiting the Falk Corporation in 19712010 · Director	Director
Ruhr2009 · Director, Director of Photography, Writer	Director, Director of Photography, Writer
Fire & Rain2009 · Director	Director
RR2007 · Director	Director
Casting a Glance2007 · Director, Writer, Producer, Director of Photography	Director, Writer, Producer, Director of Photography
One Way Boogie Woogie/27 Years Later2005 · Director	Director
74.782005 · Director	Director
Ten Skies2004 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
13 Lakes2004 · Director	Director
Sogobi2002 · Director	Director
Los2001 · Director	Director
El Valley Centro2000 · Director	Director
Utopia1998 · Director	Director
Four Corners1997 · Narrator, Director	Narrator, Director
Deseret1996 · Director	Director
Panama: Exploring the Panama Canal1995 · Director	Director
North on Evers1992 · Director	Director
Used Innocence1989 · (voice), Director, Writer	(voice), Director, Writer
TABLE TOP1988 · Director	Director
Landscape Suicide1987 · Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Producer	Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Producer
O Panama1985 · Director of Photography, Director	Director of Photography, Director
American Dreams (Lost and Found)1984 · Director	Director
PPascal's Lemma1984 · Director	Director
Him and Me1982 · Director	Director
Grand Opera: An Historical Romance1979 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
11 x 141977 · Director, Writer, Producer, Director of Photography	Director, Writer, Producer, Director of Photography
One Way Boogie Woogie1977 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Chicago Loop1976 · Director	Director
9-1-751975 · Director	Director
The United States of America1975 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
33 Minutes on the Dangers of Film Recording1975 · Director	Director
Michigan Avenue1974 · Director	Director
8½ x 111974 · Director	Director
I-941974 · Director	Director
Time and a Half1972 · Director	Director
DDid You Ever Hear That Cricket Sound?1971 · Director	Director
TTwo SkiesDirector	Director