Performa presents: Terra Femme

Director: Courtney Stephens

2021 / 62min / Digital

Metrograph is proud to once again participate as a venue of the Performa 2025 Biennial—three weeks of new visual arts performance taking place at leading art and cultural institutions across the city of New York, from November 1-23—hosting a very special revival of the lauded lecture-performance by filmmaker Courtney Stephens, Terra Femme.

“Bridging the gap between moving image and performance, Terra Femme tells the story of amateur female filmmakers from the early 20th century as they document their distant travels, seeing the act of filmmaking as one that is both liberatory and reflective of our own prejudices. As Performa built our programming series “If It Moves: Art and Performance After Cinema” for the Performa 2025 Biennial, Courtney’s voice felt vital to include: self-reflexive, immaculately researched, and surprisingly personal, Terra Femme calls into question the motivations behind filmmaking’s first century––particularly our desire to figure out our most pressing questions and to see our lives reflected back to us.” —Performa, Madeleine Seidel, Assistant Curator, and Ikechúkwú Onyewuenyi, Curator and Manager of Curatorial Affairs

Q&A with filmmaker Courtney Stephens moderated by Performa assistant curator Madeleine Seidel on Sunday, November 16th