OASIS
A Short Film by Lucie Pottecher
Entrusted with overseeing the peaceful passing of five residents at the unconventional Oasis medical facility, caregiver Alex must navigate her convictions when she forms an unexpected connection with Jasmine, a defiant patient who wishes to go back on her decision.
SYNOPSIS
In the eerie halls of the uncanny Oasis Facility, where terminal patients celebrate a painless passing, we meet Alex, a compassionate caregiver. The residents Alex cares for, diverse in backgrounds and ailments, find solace in this surreal sanctuary. They prepare for a unique ceremony, celebrating their rich lives through fun and flair before their inevitable rendezvous with death.
One young resident, Jasmine, stands out. Her turbulent realization of a life unlived leads her to question her commitment to her contract with the Oasis. In a dramatic twist, Jasmine pleads with Alex, seeking to renegotiate her fate – one that now rests in Alex's hands, forcing her to confront the nuances of her morality. This moment evokes Alex's own moral dilemma from the past – her inability to hasten her mother's terminal illness, which drove her to work at Oasis.
Strong stylistic choices were made to allow these moral dilemmas to become palpable. We break the fourth wall in morally complicit scenes, putting viewers directly in Alex's shoes. The frames' composition also reflects a core theme: power and responsibility. We meticulously block and frame scenes such that Alex and Jasmine are never at equal heights – symbolizing the complex power struggles constantly morphing.
The film reaches its climax during the final ceremony, where Alex must make a heart-wrenching decision between what she believes is right and what Jasmine wants. OASIS serves to engage audiences in a profound conversation on the intricacies of personal autonomy, morality, and our interconnectedness as human beings.
SYNOPSIS
WHY
When I was 13, I lost my grandmother to a painful battle with ALS.
Every day, I watched her slowly lose her agency and sense of self. And yet, she kept fighting. One day I turned to her and I asked, “Doesn’t it hurt?” Unable to speak we communicated through her iPad, through which she wrote down three simple words, “What other choice?” We let the sound of cars and mopeds zipping through the streets of Paris fill the room as we sat. This experience left me grappling with a burning question: What if she had asked me to end her pain? And an even scarier thought, what if I couldn’t follow through? It was there that the “Oasis” was born.
OASIS dives headfirst into the complex ethical dilemma of choice within the confines of an end-of-life care facility. It resonates particularly with a target audience that appreciates speculative fiction, a genre that thrives on exploring societal issues through a realistic and oftentimes uncomfortable lens, taking inspiration from seminal titles like Netflix’s "Black Mirror" or Amazon Prime’s “Homecoming”. It urges us to ask ourselves, as an individual and as a society: When what we’ve believed to be right is disrupted, who do we choose to listen to?
But "Oasis" isn't merely a debate on end-of-life care; it's about the broader concept of choice; choices we make for ourselves and others. This film unequivocally embraces freedom of choice as a fundamental human right, at risk in greater areas of life—our bodies, identities, expressions, genders, and races. It strives to ignite discussions about our inherent rights to self-governance, and the grey areas that we must navigate in protecting these rights. Consequently, in tandem with the creation of "Oasis," our mission is to partner with organizations that share this same ethos of the Oasis.
We are pleased to report that Oasis has received support from the American Medical Women's Association, an organization dedicated to advancing women in medicine, advocating for equity, and ensuring excellence in healthcare.
AWARD-WINNING TEAM
