A year in a town called Allensworth. A singular figure of experimental world film, structuralist James Benning once again sets out to explore American history and the topography of the local landscape. Allensworth was the first settlement in California to be governed from 1908 by African-American citizens; after the First World War its numbers dwindled, while today it is again home to several hundred people. One month in this place is represented by a single shot lasting approximately five minutes: mesmeric in its simplicity, nevertheless, loaded with details and meanings. In this film, too, Benning confirms his unique status in the cinematic art of spellbinding objectivity. Is Allensworth a ghost town, a historical memento, or both?
Viktor Palák
65 min / Color, DCP
Director James Benning
/ Producer James Benning
/ Contact Dylan Lustrin
James Benning (1942, Milwaukee, USA). Selected filmography: Grand Opera. An Historical Romance (1979), Landscape Suicide (1986), Four Corners (1997), 13 Lakes (2004), One Way Boogie Woogie (2005), Twenty Cigarettes (2011), Stemple Pass (2012), natural history (2014), Maggie’s Farm (2019), The United States of America (2021), Allensworth (2022).
Dylan Lustrin
E-mail: [email protected]
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