Minimalist filmmaker James Benning’s California Trilogy captures the landscape of California with 35 carefully crafted shots, each lasting 2.5 minutes. Viewers can immerse themselves in everyday locales—from urban Los Angeles’ desert border to streets lined with tract houses and parking lots nearly devoid of people.
Completing the series by contrasting the urban and agricultural images of the earlier films in the trilogy, Sogobi (a Shoshone word meaning “earth”) shows a section of the state unmarred by development. 2000, color, 16mm transferred to video, 90 minutes.
