Easy Rider
Feb 28, 2013
(James Benning, USA, 2012, HD, 95 min)
The cross-country voyage of two boys in Easy Rider (1969) inspired countless romantics to retrace their route across the States, searching for America. If they went searching today, what would they find? James Benning sharpened his road-movie claws last year with small roads—a pensive look at 50 of the roads least traveled in the U.S.—and now returns to the highway with an Easy Rider “remake” capturing the sites from the original as they appear today. Benning updates the image of the frontier-free dream with his characteristic long shots, resurrecting corners of the country that for decades have been preserved in amber.
SHORTS SCREENING WITH EASY RIDER
The Long Walk 2010
(documentation shared by the Long Walkers 2010, edited by Britta Johnson, 4:44)
A Kind of Experiential Geography, The Long Walk, 2012
(filmed by Gabriel Miller, edited by Karina Nyquist and Susan Robb, 6:32)
Are You Doin' Some Stuff, A Journey Into The Sow Movement Movement
(filmed and edited by Rodrigo Valenzeula, 10:23)
This trio of short films was shot as part of Susan Robb's The Long Walk. Both the walk and these works reflect a sense and appreciation for time and landscape.
These films open artistic research on the cultural meanings of being 'on the road;' not as a driver or passenger, but on foot. A perfect companion to Benning's meditative take on Hopper's counter-culture classic.