2016’s Best Foreign Language Film at the 2016 Oscars has been awarded to Son of Saul, the Hungarian nominee this year. Directed by Lazlo Nemes, written by Clara Royer and Lazlo Nemes, and produced by Gabor Rajina, Krisztina Pinter, Judit Stalter and Gabor Sipos. This is the ninth Academy Award nomination for Hungary and it’s second win.
Breaking ground tonight, underdog nominee Bear Story took home an Oscar for Best Animated Short, marking the first ever Oscar win for Chile. Directed by Gabriel Osorio, produced by Pato Escala, and written by Daniel Castro and Gabriel Osorio.
The story is about a melancholy old bear that, every day, takes a mechanical diorama that he has created out to his street corner. For a coin, passersby can look into the peephole of his invention, which tells the story of a circus bear who longs to escape and return to the family from which he was taken.
In the category of Best Documentary Short, the Pakistani nominee Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy seized the Oscar for her film A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness. Obaid-Chinoy is one of only eleven female directors to have won two Oscars for a non-fiction film.
The film documents Eighteen-year-old Sada, who fell in love and eloped, was targeted by her father and uncle but survived to tell her story. This is the story of just one of more than a 1,000 girls and women who are targeted in religiously motivated “honor” killings in Pakistan, especially in rural areas.
When accepting the award Obaid-Chinoy heralded the success the film has already achieved for the women of her country. Revealing that, thanks to the exposure her film brought to the subject of “honor” killings, she has been able to spark social change to stop them from ever happening again.
Also taking home their first Oscar ever is Ennio Morricone for his score for The Hateful 8.