Northwest Film Forum

James Benning has built a body of avant-garde work that explores ideas of identity time and landscape. Small Roads utilizes long takes of Western roads, building a sense of space and rhythm which invites comparisons to filmmakers like Abbas Kiarostami and composers like Phillip Glass.  It’s much more than mere observation, however; as you watch, meditations on history, technologies, and the context of humanity’s interactions with the planet, and the power and meaning of art, are inevitable. For a film so meticulously put together, this is a journey to get lost in, a picture of America from west to east mapped out by the roads less traveled.

“Benning is a paragon of diligence. A self-described "big fan of working hard," he's a national treasure to be reckoned with: the Frederick Wiseman of stillness.” - Slant Magazine