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Mac Margolis

Chile Wins an Oscar for Tackling Its Past

In Hollywood it was a minor prize, but in Chile it was cause for major celebration.
A Chilean victory.

A Chilean victory.

Photographer: Jason Merritt/Getty Images
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Filmmakers don't normally qualify as national heroes, but Gabriel Osorio and Patricio Escala might have been World Cup champions when they arrived home in Chile early this week having won an Oscar for "Bear Story."

In Hollywood it was a minor Academy Award -- best animated short film -- but it was the first for a film from Chile. On Tuesday, President Michelle Bachelet welcomed Osorio, the film's director; Escala, the producer; and writer Daniel Castro at the presidential palace and posed with an Oscar statuette in hand.