Chile’s National Council of Culture and the Arts congratulates the makers of “Bear Story” for the first Oscar ever awarded to a Chilean film
It was just after midnight in Chile when the long-awaited news arrived and the young team from the Chilean production company Punkrobot held up the first Oscar ever to be awarded to a Chilean production: “Bear Story.” The emotionally moving 10-minute short was confirmed as the winner of the category Best Animated Short Film, where it competed against “Sanjay’s Super Team” (United States), from the Pixar studio, “We can’t live without cosmos” (Russia), “World of tomorrow” (United States) and Prologue (United Kingdom).
“We are delighted with this, the first Oscar for Chilean film! Although Chileans have been awarded statuettes in the past, this is the first time it has been awarded to a team that lives and works in Chile. We have said it before: just being nominated is recognition in itself, but winning against giants like Pixar should fill us with pride and is a powerful boost for Chilean film,” said the Chilean minister of Culture, Ernesto Ottone Ramírez.
“On behalf of the Council of Culture and the Government of Chile, we offer our sincere congratulations to the director of ‘Bear Story’, Gabriel Osorio, producer Patricio Escala and the entire crew of Punkrobot for this important recognition. I am proud to have been part of the support network that began with an Audiovisual Fund from CNCA awarded to this story in 2010, when the project was called ‘The Suitcase’” explained the Minister.
On the long road that led to this triumphant moment, “Bear Story” has received the support of a network that, in addition to the National Council of Culture and Arts, included in its production stage Corfo and the Universidad de las Américas, where the filmmakers teach. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ProChile, Dirac and the Chile’s Embassy in the United States also got involved in promoting the film with the Academy in Hollywood.
Minister Ottone emphasized that this Oscar crowns the recent success of Chilean cinema in several film festivals, such as -among other achievements- awards in Berlinale a week ago and the 2012 Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film for the film, “No,” by Pablo Larraín. “This Academy award adds to a series of acknowledgments that Chilean film, in all of its forms -documentary, feature film and now animation- is receiving in the most important Film Festivals around the world. It also sends a message to us at the Council of Culture and to the different Government organizations that support audiovisual arts, to continue strengthening our film industry, perfecting our tools to give even more support to genres with such international potential, such as animation,” he said.
About “Bear Story”
The short film, directed by Gabriel Osorio and written by Daniel Castro, tells the story of a bear who is kidnapped and taken away from his family and forced to join the circus. Distressed by not knowing what has happened to his loved ones, he is forced by his captors to work in a circus. While the drama presented in this short falls within the realm of fiction, the story has a very strong historical background, as it is based on the Chilean military dictatorship and was inspired by the fact that the director’s grandfather had to go into exile.
“I was motivated by my family history and the exile of my grandfather. He spent two years in prison after the military coup and then was exiled in 1975. I grew up without knowing my grandfather and that gave me a starting point and was what inspired me to look at what happens when a family is separated, which is the theme addressed by this short,” explains Gabriel Osorio, the director of the film.
The Academy Oscar only confirms the success of “Bear Story” internationally. Since its premiere at the Annecy Festival in June 2014, the short film has received awards in various countries. For instance, at the Anima Mundi Festival in Brazil, it won the categories of “Best Short for Children” and “Best Art Direction”, at the aluCine Latin Film+Media Arts Festival in Canada, it received the award for “Best Animated Film”, at the Cleveland International Film Festival, it was crowned “Best Animated Short Film” and recently it was both audience and jury winner at the ShortList Film Festival, organized by the magazine The Wrap.