23—27 February 2026
with COURTNEY STEPHENS
at Argos + Bozar + Pianofabriek (Brussels)
Feedback Days: 23 + 24 February 2026
Feedback Days SIC 2026 Participants
In the presence of filmmaker Courtney Stephens
Free admission – A limited number of external visitors may attend by reservation.
To register, please email: soundimageculture@gmail.com
> SOLD OUT
Tuesday 24 February | 19:00 | John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office – Courtney Stephens & Michael Almereyda
Screening in the presence of the directors
Dive into the strange, visionary world of neuroscientist John C. Lilly, a pioneer in dolphin communication, float tanks, and psychedelic experiments, with this captivating documentary. Using archival footage, personal films, and interviews, filmmakers Courtney Stephens and Michael Almereyda trace Lilly’s bold quest for extraordinary experiences against the backdrop of the Cold War and the 1960s counterculture. The film explores the link between science, mysticism, and madness, offering a unique portrait of a fascinating figure.
On 24 February, Courtney Stephens, the film’s American co-director, will be present to introduce the screening and participate in a Q&A. A rare opportunity to experience the work in the presence of the artist. Not to be missed as part of Bozar’s Close-up series.
24/2 at 19:00 — Bozar (rue Ravenstein 23, 1000 Brussels)
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Wednesday 25 February | 10:00—17:00 | Masterclass Courtney Stephens
How can non-fiction films account for the increasingly fantastical elements of present reality? How are genre conventions at play in, for example, the news we receive and the social media we ingest?
In a media landscape of slippery truths and authors, how can we go beyond the informational / educational model of documentary film, and enter into the collective dreamlife of the present? Filmmaker Courtney Stephens (Terra Femme, The American Sector, Invention, John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office) will share clips from her own and other films to think collectively about the instability of present visual and political reality, and how it might generate adaptive cinematic techniques, inviting other modes of displacement.
Experience is our guide, more than facts. Stephens will share footage and reflections from a work in progress, which deals with American fairy tales.
25/2 at 10:00—17:00 — Bozar (rue Ravenstein 23, 1000 Brussels)
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Wednesday 25 February | 19:00 | Invention – Courtney Stephens
Director Courtney Stephens will be present to introduce the film and participate in a Q&A session.
In Invention, personal trauma collides with noir mystery as Callie Hernandez—who co-conceived the film and plays a version of herself—searches for the truth about her conspiracy-minded father, an inventor whose sudden death leaves her with many questions.
Inheriting his patent for an experimental healing device, she embarks on a journey through a shadowy backwoods America of eccentrics and opportunists, uncovering what loved ones conceal in life and death. Shot on Super 16mm and enriched with archival material from Hernandez’s own late father, Courtney Stephens transforms the investigative narrative into a bold, imaginative meditation on grief, obsession, and the allure of conspiratorial thinking. Hernandez’s acting won her the prize for Best Performance at the Locarno filmfestival in 2024.
25/2 at 19:00 — Bozar (rue Ravenstein 23, 1000 Brussels)
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Thursday 26 + Friday 27 February | 10:00—17:00 | Workshop by Beny Wagner
LANGUAGE, PLACE, AND THE POLITICS OF PRESENCE
Film is often referred to as a kind of language. In some cases, film’s relationship to language helps articulate techniques that travel through the history and present of cinematic form. But unlike language, film cannot be broken down into discrete units–words, letters, etc.–and turned into a comprehensive linguistic system. Film is bound to the real. It absorbs and recontextualizes a multisensorial world of many overlapping dimensions: linguistic, corporeal, technological, environmental, infrastructural, all woven together in ways that resist clear categorization. Film’s relationship to language is not simply a theoretical or technical problem, it informs our whole approach to film and its social, environmental, and political roles.
25+ 26/2 | 10:00—17:00 — Pianofabriek (rue du Fort 35, 1060 Brussels)
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