Oceania: Journey to the Center

“Oceania: Journey to the Center emerges organically from time spent building relationships--with people, a place, and a quickly evolving climate reality.  The film's formal choices--from the patient editing to the layering of time, and the ever-widening circle of voices--offer instructors a rich text for conversations about film craft alongside the exploration of climate change, colonialism, and cultural survival.  It's a beautiful, deeply moving film, and a rich text for the interdisciplinary classroom.” -Jessie Keyt, Associate Arts Professor, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU

"This beautiful film draws the audience into the lives and mores of the peoples of Kiribati, clarifying the existential threat of climate change to nature and humanity. The gorgeous images of a harmonious relationship between people and nature are jarringly interrupted by the scenes of nuclear testing and a beached dead whale sliced by a ship. Thus, whether scientist or artist, the audience is drawn into understanding the devastating consequences of human activities everywhere, even in one of the most remote areas of the ocean. As a scientist, I was struck by the gentle sensuality of the film, being reminded that not only facts but emotions influence human actions."  -Francis Gulland, Chair of US Marine Mammal Commission

“This lyrical documentary captivates with its profound intimacy and poetic imagery, weaving the personal and collective into a story of resilience and shared humanity. Through the director’s deep sensitivity and remarkable connection with the protagonists – beautifully depicted in tender moments of togetherness – we are invited into the heart of a remote community. Created over many years, the film stands as a testament to the director’s extraordinary commitment and vision.”  - Stefanie Schwab, Arte G.E.I.E. and Lead Juror at Innsbruck Film Festival

"As a community scientist, I encourage my students to think critically about how their actions and decisions carry consequences both near and far. This film brought those lessons to life, putting faces, names, and stories behind the statistics. It raises a question that sits at the heart of my work at the intersection of community, policy, and technology: after centuries of progress, how do we define success? The film suggests that true progress lies not in endless growth, but in sustaining family, community, culture, and place." - Manny Patole, NYU Tandon School of Engineering | Center for Urban Science + Progress (CUSP)

Natalie Zimmerman is a San Francisco Bay Area based filmmaker and artist whose work has been exhibited worldwide in diverse contexts including Independent Feature Project, World Affairs Council, Museumsquartier/Q21 and Sigmund Freud Museum (Vienna). She is a former Fulbright Scholar, Headlands Center for the Arts Resident Fellow, and Resident Artist at the deYoung Museum of Fine Arts (SF) where she co- created Social Dream Lab— an exploration of the collective dynamics of dreaming and social revolution. In 2017, she organized a gathering of indigenous and western women engaged in climate change activism – On Fertile Ground: Integrating Perspectives Toward a Collective Future was funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Her film works and installations include: “Islands” which premièred at SF Camerawork in the curated Exhibition ‘Traces of Life on the Thin Film of Longing” with Jem Cohen and Jenni Olsen, “Close the Eyes” which premiered at the de Young Museum in SF in the Koret Auditorium and “Eros & Psyche”, which was created and premiered while in-residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts.

Zimmerman’s most recent nonfiction film was featured at the Ji.Hlava New Visions Forum: US Docs in the Czech Republic in October 2021. In May of 2022, Zimmerman was nominated and awarded a Filmmaker Residency with Woodstock Film Festival, Theoria Foundation and Gigantic Pictures. Her projects have been awarded funding by US South Pacific Embassy (Diplomatic Grant), US State Dept. Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, Center for Cultural Innovation, UC Berkeley Professional Development Award, Puffin Foundation, Paul Robeson Foundation and Yip Harburg Foundation among others. She most recently founded Alchemy Dream Studio which released her first feature-length nonfiction film, OCEANIA: Journey to the Center. OCEANIA had its World Premiere at the Mill Valley International Film Festival (October 2024) followed by an US East Coast Premiere at the Woodstock Film Festival and will continue to play festivals worldwide throughout 2025.

She holds a Master of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts and a Film Certificate from New York University.