Image of James Benning

James Benning

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.


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Born:
Dec 28, 1942 In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Movie/TV Credits:
11
First Appeared:
In the movie Maintenance
Latest Project:
Movie Benning's Dream 2021-05-23
Known For
Poster of Benning's Dream
Poster of Telemundo
Poster of L. Cohen
Poster of Maintenance
Filmography
Movie Maintenance Himself 2025
Movie Benning's Dream Self (voice) 2021-05-23
Movie She Dies Tomorrow Leatherman 2020-07-31
Movie Telemundo Himself 2018-12-01
Movie L. Cohen Himself 2018-01-14
Movie thinking of red 2016-11-10
Movie Coming to Terms The Father 2013-11-24
Movie Double Play: James Benning and Richard Linklater Himself 2013-09-03
Movie The Great Gatsby in Five Minutes Owl Eyes 2011-01-01
Movie James Benning: Circling the Image Himself 2003-11-30
Movie Used Innocence (voice) 1989-02-22