''13 Lakes'' is a 2004 16mm film by American independent filmmaker James Benning. It is an instance of

slow cinema Slow cinema is a genre of art cinema characterised by a style that is minimalist, observational, and with little or no narrative, and which typically emphasizes long takes.Steven RoseTwo Years At Sea: little happens, nothing is explained ''The Gua ...

, placing emphasis on introspection and contemplation. In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Summary

The film is 135 minutes long and consists of 13 ten-minute static shots of lakes from throughout the United States. There is no conventional plot, characters or dialogue. The composition has been described as "symmetrical, minimalistic and repetitive", encouraging "sensory and sensuous engagement". In several cases, boats can be seen and sounds such as waves, motors, bird calls, thunder and rain can be heard. Benning has said that he does not intend the work to be about environmentalism.

Lakes

According to the credits, the lakes are: # Jackson Lake - Wyoming # Moosehead Lake - Maine #

Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline body of water in Riverside and Imperial counties at the southern end of the U.S. state of California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the Salton Trough that stretches to the Gul ...

- California #

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

- bordered by Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin, & Michigan #

Lake Winnebago Lake Winnebago ( mez, Wenepekōw Nepēhsæh, oj, Wiinibiigoo-zaaga'igan, one, kanyataláheleˀ) is a shallow freshwater lake in the north central United States, located in east central Wisconsin. At 137,700 acres it is the largest lake entire ...

- Wisconsin #

Lake Okeechobee Lake Okeechobee (), also known as Florida's Inland Sea, is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the tenth largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest natural freshwa ...

- Florida # Lower Red Lake - Minnesota #

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from w ...

- Louisiana #

Great Salt Lake The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. It lies in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah and has a substantial impact upon the local climate, particu ...

- Utah # Lake Iliamna - Alaska #

Lake Powell Lake Powell is an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It is the second largest artificial reservoir by maximu ...

- Utah & Arizona #

Crater Lake Crater Lake ( Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fill ...

- Oregon # Lake Oneida - New York

Legacy

The film was added to the US

as a "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant film" in 2014.

References

External links

*
''13 Lakes'' essay by Scott McDonald on National Film Registry site
{{Authority control 2000s avant-garde and experimental films 2004 films American independent films United States National Film Registry films Films directed by James Benning 2000s American films