#22. Twenty Cigarettes
Director: James Benning
Cast: names
Distributor: Rights Available
Buzz: Benning – long ago a math student and currently a professor at Cal Arts – is presently the grandaddy of active avant-garde filmmakers. Churning out almost one feature-length project each year, his rigorous and austere landscape films have defied their minimal descriptions to provide brave viewers unrivalled, transcendent experiences. Praised upon its premiere at the Berlinale last February, it will be one of the his only films that isn’t focused on the splendour of America’s soil.
The Gist: Twenty shots, twenty different people, each smoking an entire cigarette. Guaranteed to receive MPAA’s very first NC-17 purely for smoking. Look for a flat-out ban if enough of these guys roll their own.
TIFF Schedule: Saturday September 10 Jackman Hall – AGO 6:30pm