Bear Story sweeps Chile's first Academy Award

This year’s Oscars were once again filled with an array of films from the purely entertaining to the emotionally draining, all of which deserved a place in the spotlight. The Academy Award for the best animated short film went to Bear Story, a haunting piece of cinema by Chilean director Gabriel Osorio Vargas. Other nominees included Prologue, Sanjay’s Super Team, World of Tomorrow, and We Can’t Live Without Cosmos.

The film tells the story of an old bear who has created a mechanical diorama of the past. The diorama tells the story of a bear who wishes to escape from his current situation as a circus performer, a position he was thrown into after he was taken from his family.The short film was inspired by the director’s grandfather who was imprisoned for two long years after Chile’s coup d'état in 1973, after which he had to flee in England to live in exile. The story is haunting in and out of itself but the real-life parallels also allow the viewers an intimate glimpse into the Pinochet regime and how it affected everyday families while also placing the importance of family in a universal pedestal.
Bear Story is crafted in a way that shows how worlds can reside within other worlds, even when we do not realize it. First and foremost, we see the world the bears lives in as well as the mechanical world it has created, both of which can be considered equally real. The film has no dialogue whatsoever and instead focuses on showcasing as much detail as possible in every single aspect, from the worn out metals of the diorama to the way the protagonist bear operates it. Children get one view while adults get an entirely different one though both can easily appreciate the strong message.

The team on stage at the 88th Oscars accepting the award for best Animated Short Film

This marks the very first Academy Award for Chile, a fact appreciated by everyone involved in the film. After receiving the award, director Gabriel Osoro and producer PatoEscala spoke about the importance of sharing the film’s message and also shared their mutual happiness over winning the first Oscar for their home country. The nominees and the award were both presented by the lovable Minions, the animated characters who seem to be everywhere these days. Similarly, the Academy Award for Inside Out was presented by Buzz Lightyear and Woody as the characters also celebrated their 20th birthday recently.

The importance of this win should not be discounted as the list of nominees in the best animated short film category were fantastic once again. In fact, the majority of the films talked about important issues, usually presented in metaphorical settings. Though once has to know the entire backstory in order to fully appreciate these short films, a standard viewing is enough to entice discussions about family, love, racism, gender, sexuality, and most other factors of human life. Bear Story’s emphasis on family, and more specifically the effects of politics on families, is perhaps of particular significance these days as it is once again showcases how important it is to understand the consequences of political actions on everyday people who simply want to live a normal life with the people they love.