Oriana is a filmmaker/videographer. She started at RWS this January.
Her work centers around storytelling and she’s not used to being the one interviewed. She’s fascinated by stories and understanding how things come to be how they are. She’s drawn to the creative community and gravitates toward filming artists because she identifies with their processes. “I am more understood by people who have a creative process." She’s interested in all of the time, blood, sweat, and tears that goes into the creation of things from start to finish. She wants to help people feel seen by capturing video of who they are.
Oriana grew up in a creative household with an artist mother. One of her favorite memories is from a childhood birthday party. “My mom hand felted fairies and hung them in this natural reserve area down the street called Shieling Forest. From the invitations that were hand cut with lots of glitter and the beautiful details to the fairies she hung up, she had created this magical world from so little–felt and the woods I grew up in. That’s why I'm drawn to artists.” They’re able to make so much from so little.
She recently asked herself ‘why video?’ and ended up with fourteen pages of notes. What it comes down to: Oriana’s fascinated with documenting life and cameras are her favorite tool. “They’re magical. They take light and bounce it over mirrors and sensors and create this nearly tangible thing. It’s like you’re catching reality.” Oriana best expresses herself through the videos she creates. Creating videos about unique identities makes her feel like she is able to speak too. The joint effort of helping them tell their story tells her story.
Oriana has a lot of questions. She’ll walk into a space and wonder why someone painted the walls green or why they chose a neutral earth tone palette. Her work investigates how people explore parts of themselves through what they create. Making connections with and understanding the people she documents is a part of that too. At the end of the day it’s about understanding that we are all human.
During her senior year of college, Oriana was granted a fellowship to travel to Ecuador and make a film. She created a seven-minute documentary that tells a story of native Quechua people through the lens of a man named Froylan, a tour guide at a biodiversity research station in the Amazon. Froylan grew up in the forest. “I sat down and interviewed him about oil drilling that was happening in the Amazon. It’s still happening. And he was approaching the entire conversation from the perspective of `This is my home. This is where I grew up. This is where I learned how to live my life and people are coming and destroying it.’” It was a powerful experience for Oriana, to sit down and film someone who doesn’t have a large platform and share what’s happening.
The film is on YouTube and has over ten-thousand views. The thought that this conversation has reached that many people and that they were able to hear Froylan’s experience and what’s happening in one of the most beautiful natural places on Earth makes Oriana happy. https://youtu.be/kXM7F2l4XsA Oriana welcomes collaboration with others. Learn more about her and her work on her website. Contact her there or via email at orvicacreative@gmail.com.