Invention (2024) by Callie Hernandez & Courtney Stephens
Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 8:30 pm
Callie Hernandez & Courtney Stephens: Invention
Courtney Stephens in person
Presented in Association with the Roxie Theater
Admission: $15 General / $12 Cinematheque Members
Event tickets here
With Invention, Stephens and Hernandez have fashioned a uniquely reflexive portrait of the grieving process, utilizing personal experience to articulate something universal about death and the ways we mourn the complicated figures in our lives.” — Jordan Kronk
Invention (2024) is a collaboration between director Courtney Stephens and actress/filmmaker Callie Hernandez. With Hernandez in the starring role, Invention is an auto-fictional interpretation of the aftermath of the death of Hernandez’ father, a real life MD, an early ‘90s holistic healer and believer in parallel universes, reptilians and the healing power of energetic frequencies. Weaving archival footage of Dr. Hernandez’ alternative health infomercials through a storyline orbiting the discovery of an experimental healing device, the film delves deep into investigations of the process of grieving and the construction of fantasy as a response to loss while exploring the endlessly fascinating and problematic American themes of conspiracy theory, hucksterism and fringe medicine/wellness culture, delivering, ultimately, a portrait of the nation in its late period, in which widespread disappointment infuses the culture with hopeful fictions and toxic nostalgia.
Callie Hernandez is an actress, writer, filmmaker and producer with work spanning over a decade. She was awarded Best Performance at Locarno in Concorso Cineasti de la Presente for Invention in August 2024. Previous acting work includes Terrence Malick’s Song to Song, Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, A24’s Under the Silver Laken and Pete Ohs’ JETHICA among others. Upcoming acting work includes Albert Birney’s OBEX, which premiered at Sundance 2025, James N. Kienitz Wilkins’ The Misconceived (2025) and Mike Crane’s The Narcissists (2026). In 2023, she founded Neurotika Haus, an in-house film studio. Productions include Invention (2025) and Pete Ohs’ upcoming dark comedy Untitled Tick Movie (2025) produced in collaboration with Ohs and Jeremy O. Harris. She is currently working on an Untitled Erotica.
Courtney Stephens is a writer/director of four feature films and numerous shorts. Terra Femme, composed of amateur travel footage shot by women in the early 20th century, was a New York Times critic’s pick and has toured widely as a live performance. The American Sector (with Pacho Velez) follows slabs of the Berlin Wall installed around the US. John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office (with Michael Almereyda) explores the world of psychedelics pioneer John C. Lilly. Her films have been exhibited at San Francisco Cinematheque, MoMA, The National Gallery of Art, The Barbican, Walker Art Center and film festivals including the Berlinale, Viennale, Hong Kong, and the New York Film Festival. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright Scholarship, and grants from California Humanities, the Sloan Foundation and the Foundation for Contemporary Art.