Release Year: 2011
Synopsis:
Lauren Feiring's 2011 documentary Oscillare is a hauntingly poetic film that immerses viewers in the personal and social complexities of gender transition. Shot entirely on Super 8, Oscillare follows Alyson Bowles, a transgender woman, as she navigates the physical, emotional, and psychological terrain of transitioning from male to female in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. Through impressionistic visuals and a minimalist narrative, Feiring uses the backdrop of the Southern California desert—an area often associated with the fading dream of the American West—as a metaphor for Alyson’s own journey through an inner landscape of transformation, yearning, and struggle.
At the heart of Oscillare is Alyson Bowles, whose transition is not only a personal journey but also a lens through which we understand broader themes of identity, the passage of time, and the social fabric of modern America. Alyson's life is quietly observed as she grapples with her transformation in the context of the Inland Empire—a sprawling, desolate region in Southern California that has become symbolic of both disillusionment and hope in American culture.
