with structuralist filmmaker James Benning

The Austin Chronicle praises, “Perhaps no filmmaker is as fascinated by the geographical, historical, and social aspects of our national landscape as James Benning, who has been creating 16mm portraits of American spaces for four decades.” In this series we present Benning’s work with the Golden State. “[This is] a trilogy of films that portray my California, that is, how I see and hear that place known as California,” says Benning. “The trilogy is my attempt to look at (and listen to) rural, urban, and wilderness spaces as place; and then to present that place in aesthetic, social/economic, and political terms.” All three films follow the same structuring strategy: that is, thirty-five shots, each two-and-one-half minutes in length, accompanied by each shot’s respective ambient sound. The three parts of the trilogy are El Valley Centro (1999), which is concerned with the agricultural industry and water issues in California’s Central Valley; Los about the city of Los Angeles (2000); and Sogobi (2001) which focuses on California’s disappearing wilderness. Sogobi is the Shoshone word for “earth.” Of the trilogy, Benning has said: “In those beautiful landscapes, there are hidden and scary things. If we continue to make decisions based on economic factors for corporate profits, we’re going to lose that landscape.” Total running time 4 hours 30 min. The filmmaker will speak between each film.