Article from Scratching the Belly of the Beast catalogue, 1994

The Los Angeles Independent Film Oasis was founded in 1976 by a small group of film enthusiasts with the primary purpose of presenting an on-going series of screenings devoted to experimental cinema. The inaugural program was Jonas Mekas' Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania, which was shown on March 7, 1976 at the Haymarket, a nowdefunct
Socialist bookstore/coffeehouse/gathering place located on South Parkview Street near MacArthur Park. For roughly the next five years, almost exclusively on Sunday evenings and in a variety of venues around Los Angeles, the Oasis presented as eclectic mixture of work which reflected the group's passion for and deep commitment to independent/experimental cinema.

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