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James Benning

little boy

Director James Benning Cast James Benning, Johnan Jahromi, Alessandro Streccioni, Yusef Ferguson, Yuan Gao, Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias, Calum Walter, Nathan Meier

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Edition 2025
74' - 2025 - Historical, Avant-Garde / Experimental, Political - Format: DCP - Dialogue: English
In little boy hands are painting scale models while historical speeches play, followed by pop and protest songs. Independent and idiosyncratic filmmaker James Benning timelessly strings together images, words and music. The title refers to the (former) child in him, a folk song by Pete Seeger and the ominous miniature at the end of the film. Hear history repeat itself.
09
Thursday October
14:30 KASKcinema Subtitles: No subtitles
10
Friday October
20:00 KASKcinema Subtitles: No subtitles
12
Sunday October
22:00 Studio Skoop 2 Subtitles: No subtitles
13
Monday October
14:30 KASKcinema Subtitles: No subtitles

Director Richard Linklater considers him one of the greatest visual artists of our time. Since the early 1970s, the influential James Benning has been creating unique, independent, minimalist films, and even in his eighties he remains remarkably prolific. He describes his latest work as "a film looking at the past to warn about the future, from a little boy’s point of view." little boy offers an intimate reflection on American politics and a personal cross-section of its history. That history repeats itself in the film’s recurring pattern: a meditative sequence of painted scale models paired with recordings of political speeches and music from the era. It’s up to the viewer to piece together how it all connects. Whether through the fiery words of Stokely Carmichael and César Chávez, or iconic songs by Sinéad O’Connor and Cat Power, Benning invites you to slow down and truly listen.

Image gallery

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Credits

Directors

James Benning

Cast

James Benning, Johnan Jahromi, Alessandro Streccioni, Yusef Ferguson, Yuan Gao, Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias, Calum Walter, Nathan Meier

Producers

Dylan Lustrin

More info

Dialogue

English

Countries of production

United States of America

Year

2025

Filmography

James Benning
Did You Ever Hear That Cricket Sound? (short, 1971), Art Hist. 101 (short, 1972), Ode to Muzak (short, 1972), Time and a Half (short, 1972), 57 (short, 1973), Honeyland Road (short, 1973), Gleem (short, 1974), I-94 (short, 1974), Michigan Avenue (short, 1974), 3 Minutes on the Dangers of Film Recording (short, 1975), 9-1-75 (short, 1975), An Erotic Film (short, 1975), Saturday Night (short, 1975), The United States of America (short, 1975), A to B (short, 1976), 11 x 14 (1977), 8 1/2 X 11 (short, 1977), One Way Boogie Woogie (1977), Four Oil Wells (short, 1978), Grand Opera: An Historical Romance (1978), Oklahoma (1979), Double Yodel (short, 1980), Last Dance (short, 1981), Him and Me (1982), American Dreams: Lost and Found (1984), O Panama (short, 1985), Landscape Suicide (1986), Used Innocence (1989), North on Evers (1992), Four Corners (1998), Utopia (1998), El Valley Centro (1999), Los (2001), Sogobi (2002), 13 Lakes (2004), Ten Skies (2004), One Way Boogie Woogie/27 Years Later (2005), Casting a Glance (2007), RR (2007), Fire & Rain (short, 2009), Ruhr (2009), Faces 1973 (short, 2010), Pig Iron (short, 2010), Twenty Cigarettes (2011), Two Cabins (short, 2011), Small Roads (2011), Faces (TV film, 2011), YouTube Trilogy: 4 Songs, History, Asian Girls (short, 2011), After Warhol (2011), Nightfall (2012), Stemple Pass (2012), Easy Rider (2012), One Way Boogie Woogie 2012 (2012), The War (2012), Postscript (short, 2012), Bnsf (2013), Chicago Loop (short, 2014), Deseret (2014), Natural History (2014), Perimeter (short, 2015), Spring Equinox (2016), Measuring Change (2016), Fall Equinox (2016), Readers (2017), L. Cohen (2018), 61. La verdad interior (2019), Telemundo (2019), Maggie's Farm (2020), Dancing in the street, 11 grados de separación (2020), On Paradise Road (2020), From Bakersfield to Mojave (2021), The United States of America (2022), Two Moons (short, 2022), Allensworth (2022), little boy (2025)

Technical Specs

Format
DCP