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Comprised of rare amateur travelogues shot by women between the 1920s-50s, Terra Femme weaves together questions of mobility, the gaze, and early female filmmaking, in a film essay about past worlds and cinematic excavation.
Courtney Stephens’ Terra Femme is comprised of rare amateur travelogues shot by women between the 1920s-1950s. Using their footage of expeditions and exploration, Stephens creates a contemplation of past worlds through cinematic excavation.
The films present a new type of traveler: no longer a male seeker of conquests, she might be a divorcee on a tour of biblical gardens, or a widow on a cruise to the North Pole.
With a score by Sarah Davachi, Terra Femme weaves between geographical essay, personal inquiry, and historical speculation, examining these films as both private documents and accidental ethnographies.
