James Benning
California Trilogy
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Add rightsFormat 2 x DVD Interzone
Original format 16mm
Year 1999-2001
Language(s) English
Artist(s) James Benning
Subtitles German
Booklet 16 pages (German, English)
Running time 261 min
Films
EL VALLEY CENTRO (1999) 87'
LOS (2000) 87'
SOGOBI (2001) 87'
Description
Produced at the junction of two millennia, the California Trilogy is James Benning's three-part topographical study of the American "Golden State." Looking to the past while exploring the present, the mathematician-turned-filmmaker condenses three distinct Californian landscapes into a total of 105 shots, each lasting exactly 2 minutes 30 seconds. Formal rigor and compositional precision combine with ambient sound and implicit social commentary to create a hypnotic journey through the 31st State of the United States; from the great Central Valley (El Valley Centro), through the greater Los Angeles area (Los), to the wilderness of California (Sogobi).