James Benning - Deseret / Four Corners

In the 1990s, James Benning's films were characterized primarily by an ongoing investigation of the relationship between the image and the (spoken or written) word. This 2-disc set features the two key works representing the peak of this "text-image film" period. In Deseret Benning (by way of the New York Times) retells the history of America's Mormon State Utah through spectacular black & white and color images. Art and landscape join as one in Benning's following film Four Corners, which serves as both a tribute to the famous region in the USA where four states converge and a portrait of four very different artists.

The Films

Deseret - USA 1995 - Directed, written, photographed, edited and produced by: James Benning - Voice: Fred Gardner - Premiere: January 22, 1995 (Sundance Film Festival, Utah)

Four Corners - USA 1997 - Directed, written, photographed, edited and produced by: James Benning - Voices: Hartmut Bitomsky, James Benning, Yeasup Song, Billy Woodberry - Premiere: December 17, 1997 (Wicker Park, Chicago)

DVD features (2-disc DVD)

DVD 1

• Deseret 1995, 78'
• James Benning: Viennale Q & A 1996, 15'

DVD 2

• Four Corners 1997, 76'
• 20 page bilingual booklet

Edited by: Österreichisches Filmmuseum Vienna
DVD authoring: Tobias Dressel
DVD supervision: Oliver Hanley