Oscilloscope Laboratories Collection

Oscilloscope Laboratories, a New York City-based independent media company, was founded in 2008 by Adam Yauch—former member of the iconic hip hop group Beastie Boys, and David Fenkel—one of the cofounders of American entertainment enterprise A24. Oscilloscope maintains three divisions consisting of film distribution, film production and music production and is currently run by Daniel Berger, and owned by Yauch’s widow Dechen Wangdu.

Oscilloscope's distribution wing focuses on the international release of independently-produced films theatrically as well as on TV and DVD. The company’s chief aspiration is providing lesser-known artists and their artworks accessibility to flourish in a highly competitive market through collaborative efforts. From its beginnings, Oscilloscope has aimed at giving a voice to filmmakers and artists from around the world, acquiring on average a dozen films per year. Noteworthy releases include American independent filmmaker Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy (2008) and Meek’s Cutoff (2010), Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra’s Academy Award-nominated Embrace the Serpent (2015), and South Korean American filmmaker So Yong Kim’s Treeless Mountain (2008).

About the Collection

Oscilloscope Laboratories donated a number of 35mm prints to the HFA starting in 2011, including Wendy and Lucy (2008) and Meek’s Cutoff (2010) and later donated A Film Unfinished (2010, Yael Hersonski), Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), Wuthering Heights (2011, Andrea Arnold) and The Messenger (2009, Oren Moverman). These titles form a part of the HFA's exhibition collections.