RiverRun Animated Shorts Winner “Bear Story” Wins OSCAR®

By Staff

On Sunday night the animated short film “Bear Story,” directed by Gabriel Osorio Vargas received an Oscar® at the 2016 Academy® Awards. In 2015 “Bear Story” was the winner of RiverRun’s Best Animated Short jury prize.

This prestigious accreditation as an Academy-qualifying film festival, received by RiverRun in 2014, designates RiverRun as one of a very limited number American film festivals that offer this route to Academy eligibility, allowing animated short films such as “Bear Story” to forgo a standard theatrical run, provided that winning films otherwise comply with Academy rules.

“While winning at RiverRun makes animated short films (and documentary shorts) eligible to be nominated for an Academy Award, we don’t know if the win at RiverRun is what actually qualified the film – as it won a lot of prizes this past year.) But this will be the very first time that one of RiverRun’s top prize-winning films competed and won an Oscar!” said Mary Dossinger, RiverRun Program Manager.

“Bear Story” is a beautifully animated short film from Chile, directed by Gabriel Vargas, which tells the tale of an old bear that goes out every day to a busy street corner. Through a tin marionette theater of his own making, the bear reveals his extraordinary life story.

If you missed “Bear Story” at RiverRun 2015, you can see a trailer and learn more about the film on its official website HERE.

You can learn more about RiverRun and get passes for 2016 HERE.