Utopia (1998)
James Benning (born 1942 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American filmmaker. He is the son of German immigrants and studied film at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1975), where he studied under David Bordwell. He has worked as an independent filmmaker ever since. His films focus on a sense of place and are often built from long, unedited takes. He used to work in Chicago but in recent years has been based on the West Coast. In 2003 Reinhard Wulf made a 90 minute documentary (James Benning: Circling the Image) about Benning and his films. In 2007 the Austrian Film Museum published a book of texts (James Benning) on his work.

In addition to his film work, he has taught at Northwestern University and joined the faculty at the California Institute of the Arts in 1987 where he teaches filmmaking and experimental sound.