One Way Boogie Woogie

In 1977 I made a film called ONE WAY BOOGIE WOOGIE. My beginning idea for that film was to document milwaukee’s industrial valley. The industry there was beginning to move out and the land was surely going to be gentrified so I wanted to note its presence before it disappeared. I spent a few months recording the area with still photos and selected sixty different locations for the film. But then two things happened, one, I strayed from the idea of pure documentation and decided to add minimal narratives to each shot, and two, I saw Michael Snow’s LA REGION CENTRALE, which made me think about spherical space. To help break down the inherent linearity of film (that is, one frame following another) I constructed cross-referencing elements in both narrative and mise-en-scene design to help foster a non-linear experience. (James Benning)

In the presence of James Benning.