On American Story,

On American Story,

For more information, visit Tribeca: Breakout Director Sean Dunne Talks 'Oxyana' and a Portrait of a Town's Addiction

The American transformation, in whatever form it takes that brings awareness to a depressive cultural shift among our neighbors, has become a genre sub-type much in the form of Noire or Dystopia. In the narrative form, it can take up the aspect of "magical realism" as with Beasts of the Southern Wild. In the documentary sense, we have something like Oxyanna. By it's description in the article, it takes a look at the degraded altered ego of the town of Oceana and the Oxycotin that plagues its citizens as an oppressive tyrant. 

I'm not interested in commercializing the tragedies occurring, but where there is a community overthrown, there is a need. And there is myth in the concepts of such vices such as plagues, missing people, and the returning theme in our culture of a lost civilization or community. Many of the zombie films detail a world where people have gone mad. But the realities must always be darker and harsher. There is a part in the article where Sean Dunne talks about their need to tell a story. I'm always amazed at the audacity of documentary film makers to record reality, especially when that reality is dangerous, and those recorded resistant to exposure. The unveiling of truth can be a volatile affair. The stories, evidently, must be told regardless. People want to release them. On some level the human cannot be ignored. The devices we use as a method for our curiosity and the display of our consciousness that bring different groups together, being the camera and the sound recorder as well as our context and our interest, are the tools we use to elevate ourselves as a race. The sharing is fundamental and should give heart to emerging film makers who dare to go where others don't.

Lets get what we came for,
C. M. Sanchez III