JB
Photo of James Benning

James Benning

Actor, Director, Producer, Editor, Writer, Additional CreditsBorn December 28, 1942 (82 years)
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.

Known For

  • Los
  • El Valley Centro
  • Sogobi
  • Stemple Pass
  • One Way Boogie Woogie/27 Years Later

James Benning Filmography

2020
She Dies Tomorrow · as Leatherman
2013
Coming to Terms · as The Father
2012
Stemple Pass · as Ted Kaczynski (voice)
1998
Four Corners · as Narrator

2021
Benning's Dream · as Self (voice)
2018
L. Cohen · as Himself
2013
2003
1991
Movie Days (TV Series) · as Self - Interviewee
1989
Cinéma, de notre temps (TV Series) · as Self

2022
The United States of America · as Cinematographer
2021
From Bakersfield to Mojave · as Cinematographer
2018
L. Cohen · as Cinematographer
2014
Natural History · as Cinematographer
2013
Bnsf · as Cinematographer
2012
One Way Boogie Woogie 2012 · as Cinematographer
2012
Easy Rider · as Director Of Photography
2012
Stemple Pass · as Director Of Photography
2012
Nightfall · as Cinematographer
2011
After Warhol · as Cinematographer
2011
Small Roads · as Cinematographer
2011
Twenty Cigarettes · as Cinematographer
2009
Ruhr · as Director Of Photography
2009
Ruhr · as Sound Editor
2007
RR · as Cinematographer
2007
Casting a Glance · as Director Of Photography
2005
2004
13 Lakes · as Cinematographer
2002
Sogobi · as Cinematographer
2001
Los · as Cinematographer
1999
El Valley Centro · as Cinematographer
1998
Four Corners · as Cinematographer
1986
Landscape Suicide · as Director Of Photography
1977
11 x 14 · as Director Of Photography

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