An essay film about the mysteries of consciousness and communication channeled through neurophysiologist and “psychonaut” John C. Lilly, a daring experimenter with dolphins and psychedelics. Lilly’s motto — “My body is my laboratory” — carried him into realms of radical self-investigation, while his research also helped bring dolphins and whales into the collective dreamlife of the 20th century. His experimental projects were staged against the shifting backdrops of the 1950s Cold War, the counterculture of the 60s, and the environmental vanguard of the 70s. The film, narrated by Chloë Sevigny, also reflects his interactions with equally exceptional contemporaries, including filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Country
USAYear
2025Length
89'
Category
DocumentaryPremiere
Italian
Screenplay
Michael Almereyda and Courtney StephensPhotography
Nellie Klux, Rafael Rafael Palacio-Illingworth, Norbert Shieh, Courtney Stephens, Pacho VelezEditing
Courtney Stephens, Iva Radivojević, Max BowensMusic
Brian McOmberSound
Harbor Picture CompanyProduction
Taylor Hess and Jesse Miller A Subtle Body Films / Couple 3 ProductionSynopsis
Biography
Michael Almereyda’s films range from narrative features and shorts to documentary portraits and diary films. His work has premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Venice, NYFF, TIFF, Rotterdam, Berlin, Locarno, and Rome. He has received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and Creative Capital.
Courtney Stephens is a writer/director. Her non-fiction feature Terra Femme was a New York Times critic’s pick and has toured widely. Invention, a hybrid fiction feature, premiered at Locarno in 2024. Her films have been exhibited at MoMA, The National Gallery of Art, The Barbican, Istanbul Modern, Thailand Biennale, and festivals including the Berlinale, Viennale, IDFA, SXSW, Hong Kong, and NYFF.
Statement
We began the project with a basic knowledge of John Lilly’s dolphin experiments and his later persona as an explorer of psychedelics, and we knew that, in his lifetime, two very different Hollywood movies — The Day of the Dolphin and Altered States — were based on Lilly’s exploits during distinctly different eras.
Reviewing archival material and his own writings, it was fascinating to learn Lilly started as a Cold War scientist doing innovative neurobiology, and that his trajectory into pop culture corresponded with significant shifts in the understanding of consciousness, intersecting with his pioneering appreciation of cetaceans (dolphins and whales) and hallucinogenic drugs (LSD and ketamine). We also came to understand Lilly as a person who, with considerable fluidity, traded scientific investigation for adventures in mysticism, fantasy, and showmanship. Lilly’s notion of the Earth Coincidence Control Office began to feel like an umbrella term covering multiple kinds of mystery and weirdness.
— Michael Almereyda, Courtney Stephens
Archival materials
Archival courtesy of, among others, Archívo John y Colette Lilly – Cineteca Nacional México, British Pathé, CBC, Getty Images, Greenpeace, Historic Films, Imogen Cunningham Trust, National Film Board of Canada, POND5, Regents of the University of California, Light Cone and the Robert Breer Estate, Steina and Woody Vasulka, The Vasulka Foundation, Universal Media.
Screenings
Sat 27.09.202522:15–00:00
John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office
Italian premiere
Q&A with director
Screening
Cinema Lumière - DAMSLAB
Ticket fee
Sun 28.09.202511:30–13:30
John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office
Italian premiere
Q&A with director
Screening
Sala Cervi
Via Riva di Reno 72/A
Ticket fee
Extra
