OASIS was born in the midst of the social uprising in October 2019. As social beings, we actively participated in the protest that mobilized millions of people onto the streets for months. At such a critical moment in our country's history, what better way to utilize our cinema tools than to capturing the essence of this transformative process? Organically, energetically, and without hesitation, we undertook a collective mission to provide a powerful testament to the resilience and determination of the Chilean people in their quest for dignity, social justice, and a departure from the exploitative neoliberal and extractivist paradigm.
Fueled by our passion for observation and our deep-rooted connections with the territory, we carried our cameras to the most remote corners of Chile. Simultaneously, we delved into the Constituent Assembly, tasked with drafting a New Constitution to renew Chile. Over the course of more than three years of political processes and filming, we crafted a cinematic and collaborative journey marked by both hope and disappointment, but also and above all, by resistance and a glimpse into the future.
In this big task, we weren't just two directors, but a team of more than 15 filmmakers from all over Chile. Each of us dared to bring his or her point of view into a collective dialogue using our distinctive audiovisual style. OASIS creates a multifaceted narrative by interweaving one-minute documentary fragments with direct sound, like autonomous scenes. These are organized chronologically according to the political process and conceptually to explore socio-environmental issues.
Our environmental perspective creates a compelling contrast in the film, juxtaposing the urban social uprising with the climate crisis in the territories. This disrupts the political centralism that characterized a constituent process that promised to be both popular and civic. The diverse atmospheres, landscapes, and topics allows for the nuanced exploration of key concepts such as violence: popular, police, systemic, economic, and against nature. These critiques, among others, are the core of this work.
OASIS offers an immersive experience for the audience, a window into multiple worlds within a single film. It invites them to travel through societal questioning, recent historical events, and reflection about our roles for the best future.
In Chile, we have witnessed one of the most unique social processes in recent global history, where a society attempts to reach consensus following a significant social crisis and struggles to do so, leaving the environment around us in a state of vulnerability in the interim.
OASIS is not merely a tale about Chile; it is a universal narrative of hope and resilience that scrutinizes a process sounding alarms about the rise of the far right and the impending environmental crisis that require us to take action now. With every frame, sound, and word, we extend an invitation to audiences worldwide to join us, to experience this journey as if they were there, and to stand together in becoming the change we wish to see.
Tamara Uribe and Felipe Morgado
