Courtney Stephens
Courtney Stephens is a writer/director of non-fiction and experimental films. The American Sector, her documentary (co-directed with Pacho Velez) about fragments of the Berlin Wall transplanted to the U.S., was named one of the best films of 2021 in The New Yorker. Her essay film, Terra Femme, comprised of amateur travel footage shot by women in the early 20th century, was a New York Times critic's pick and premiered at the Museum of Modern Art. It has toured widely as a live performance. Her films have been exhibited at The National Gallery of Art, The Barbican, BOZAR, Arnolfini Arts, the Wexner Center, Walker Art Center, The Royal Geographical Society, BAMPFA, and in film festivals including the Berlinale, the Viennale, IDFA, SXSW, and the New York Film Festival. Stephens is the recipient of a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright Scholarship to India, multiple MacDowell fellowships, and grants from the Sloan Foundation, California Humanities, and the Foundation for Contemporary Art.