California Trilogy

Produced at the junction of two millennia, the California Trilogy is James Benning's three-part topographical study of America's "Golden State". Looking to the past while investigating the present, the mathematician-turned-filmmaker condenses three distinct Californian landscapes into a total of 105 shots, each exactly 2½ minutes long.

3 movies 2000 – 2002 4h 24m total 1 snapshot 40 solvers
Directed by James Benning

Movies in this collection

El Valley Centro
El Valley Centro

El Valley Centro

2000 1h 27m Dir. James Benning

Experimental filmmaker James Benning returns with this abstract documentary about California's Central Valley, part 1 of his "California Trilogy". Consisting of 35 shots, each over two minutes long, the film quietly portrays nature's subjugation to encroaching commercial interests.

Los
Los

Los

2001 1h 27m Dir. James Benning

Los Angeles is depicted in 35 stationary shots, each 2 1/2 minutes long, in this non-narrative film.

Sogobi
Sogobi

Sogobi

2002 1h 30m Dir. James Benning
1

Named after the Shoshonean word for "Earth", this is the third and final part of Benning's "California Trilogy" and his approach to the Californian wilderness in 35 static scenes.

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