An Oscillating Shadow retraces the steps of a photographer in constant movement between borders – some real, some imaginary – capturing a world of alibis. Closing their eyes, daughter and father unravel a jigsaw of memories using the familiar language of childhood games and hand gestures. Seemingly simple acts like counting gain a more complicated density; an extra second in the developer and the image is lost to the chemicals, a hesitation in the framing and the scene is completely, fatally, changed. Blending poetry and forensics image analysis, Rojas Mugica enters and exits images; an Ecuadorian border crossing, a funeral without a body, or a graffiti in progress where the letters V, I, C potentially anticipate the word victory. A luminous feature debut that speaks to a prolonged sense of collective mourning.

~ Ane Lopez

Celeste Rojas Mugica (1987) is a Chilean-Argentinian visual artist and filmmaker with a Master Degree in Film Creation from Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola. She investigates the relations between memories, violence and territory working with images and archives in the borders of fiction and documentary. Her debut feature, “Una sombra oscilante” (An Oscillating Shadow) received the support of the Hubert Bals Fund, Audiovisual Fund (CL) and INCAA (AR). Her short films have been part of festivals such as Doclisboa, Ars Electronica, San Sebastian and FICUNAM.

UNA SOMBRA OSCILANTE (2024), ENCUMBRO (2024), ESTRELLADISTANTE (2023), EJERCICIOS DE ARIDEZ (2021) UNA SOMBRA OSCILANTE – Short film – (2018)