Sojourn tells the story of falling in and out of love with a narcissist in an unraveling performance characterised by intense movement and soft-spoken dialogue. Through subtle references to the Greek myth of Narcissus, the language of two intertwined bodies touches upon the fragile boundary between comfort and suffocation.

The work dances on the threshold between dream and reality, where the ambiguity of thoughts and emotions meets the perception of factuality. Lena Nerinckx uses film as a medium to translate these complex interactions into a distorted and surreal world, in which the fine tactile language of bodies captures what words sometimes struggle to express.

The compositions formed by the intertwined bodies in Sojourn draw inspiration from what characterizes narcissism: two identities merging into one. For this birth to occur, one of the lovers loses their personality as the other feeds on it. Each pose therefore carries an inherent imbalance. The white sheets—a surreal bed—return as a recurring element, symbolizing both death (the loss of one person) and birth (the resurrection of the narcissist).

By consciously avoiding dialogue within the image, a voyeuristic effect is created. In the attempt to become “one,” friendship fades into the background while the surrounding world watches from a distance and can no longer exert any influence. The sound design echoes the couple’s fleeting mental spirals, and the mechanical sounds intensify the sense of desolation.

❥ Semi-Finalist Montréal Independent Film Festival
❥ Official Selection Prague International Indie Film Festival
❥ Official Selection Berlin Indie Film Festival
❥ Honorable Mention 2022 ARFF Amsterdam//International Awards