BROADCASTS.com

In the introduction to her new book on James Benning\u2019s 2004 film, Ten Skies, critic and scholar Erika Balsom writes: \u201cthere are films that present themselves as complex objects but which are in fact quite simple \u2026 And then there are films\u2014rarer altogether\u2014that appear simple but harbour tremendous complexity. Such is the deception, the allure, of Ten Skies\u2014a film messier and more profuse than my immediate love for it had allowed.\u201d\n\nBalsom joined me to talk about the book (out now from Fireflies Press) and the many-sided approach she took to writing about one of the most deceptively simple\u2014and beautiful\u2014films in Benning\u2019s fantastically varied body of work. We also discussed where\xa0Ten Skies fits into his filmography, the ways in which Benning plays with his own identity, how ten static shots of clouds can be a powerful political statement, and much more.\n\nBalsom will introduce a screening of Ten Skies\xa0at Light Industry in Brooklyn on July 1.