DOUBLE PLAY: BENNING AND LINKLATER

Avant-gardist James Benning and indie icon Richard Linklater may not be filmmakers you immediately associate with each other. Over the years Benning has remained a staunchly experimental, non-narrative filmmaker whose films have grown increasingly minimal and challengingly durational, while Linklater has won a great deal of mainstream recognition with unlikely classics such as Slacker, Dazed and Confused, and Before Sunrise and its sequels. The duo have developed a personal and intellectual affinity that dates back to the time Linklater invited Benning to present his work at the Austin Film Society, which he founded in 1985.

Working with legendary producer André S. Labarthe – who co-created the long-running French television series Cinema, de Notre Temps (Cinema Of Our Time) – filmmaker Gabe Klinger set out to document the unique friendship between Benning and Linklater over the course of a few days in Austin and Bastrop, Texas, while the two filmmakers once again presented Benning’s films at the Austin Film Society, played baseball at Linklater’s home, visited old shooting locations, and shared memories over long meals and hikes. Combining this newly filmed material with extensive archival elements, Double Play contemplates the contrast between these two apparently dissimilar directors even as it persuasively reveals their affinities, both personal and artistic.

Official Screening, Venice Film Festival