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Benita

Play trailer 2:16 Poster for Benita Nov 2025 1h 21m Documentary Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
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BENITA is Alan Berliner's intimate portrait of New York City filmmaker, Benita Raphan, who took her life by suicide in the middle of the Covid pandemic. Benita made several beautiful short films over the years, exploring the relationship between mental health, innovation, and creativity -- including portraits of Emily Dickinson, John Nash, Helen Keller, and Buckminster Fuller. Benita may not have left behind a suicide note, but Berliner patiently explored her personal archive, filled with films, out-takes, notebooks, drawings, photographs, home movies, and more than 40 hard drives, eventually making a surprising discovery that changed his understanding of Benita's life, her work -- and her death. Part anatomy of a suicide and part personal history of the profound effect of isolation and loneliness during Covid, BENITA is the portrait of a filmmaker by a filmmaker that's also a film about filmmaking -- and a story about storytelling.

Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker Nov 25
Berliner honors a fascinating artist who, with grim irony, becomes better known than ever through his memorial tribute. Go to Full Review Q.V. Hough Vague Visages Dec 3
"'Benita' is more of a cinematic explainer than a rich psychological study." Go to Full Review Avi Offer NYC Movie Guru Nov 24
A heartbreaking, but unfocused documentary. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
Benita

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Cast & Crew

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Alan Berliner

Director

Benita Raphan

Director

Lucy Eldridge

Self

Carin Goldberg

Self

Hayes Greenfield

Self

Marshall Grupp

Self
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Benita

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Benita

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Movie Info

Synopsis BENITA is Alan Berliner's intimate portrait of New York City filmmaker, Benita Raphan, who took her life by suicide in the middle of the Covid pandemic. Benita made several beautiful short films over the years, exploring the relationship between mental health, innovation, and creativity -- including portraits of Emily Dickinson, John Nash, Helen Keller, and Buckminster Fuller. Benita may not have left behind a suicide note, but Berliner patiently explored her personal archive, filled with films, out-takes, notebooks, drawings, photographs, home movies, and more than 40 hard drives, eventually making a surprising discovery that changed his understanding of Benita's life, her work -- and her death. Part anatomy of a suicide and part personal history of the profound effect of isolation and loneliness during Covid, BENITA is the portrait of a filmmaker by a filmmaker that's also a film about filmmaking -- and a story about storytelling.
Director
Alan Berliner, Benita Raphan
Producer
Alan Berliner
Screenwriter
Alan Berliner, Alan Berliner
Production Co
Experiments in Time, Light & Motion
Genre
Documentary, Biography
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 28, 2025, Limited
Runtime
1h 21m