James Benning Movies

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

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

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

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...

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...

Filmed in Sierra Nevada, just like Benning's Spring Equinox, but this time during a different season. Consists of static shots of the actual...

Filmed in Sierra Nevada, California over one day. Static and still shots of the actual landscape and environments in the area.

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

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...

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

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

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

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

Short by James Benning.

A film by James Benning

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...

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

A short film about femininity