The Colette short documentary, created independently and distributed by The Guardian Documentaries, game developer Respawn Entertainment, and Facebook’s Oculus, has won the Best Documentary (Short Subject) Oscar at the 93rd Academy Awards. The short film, which was made as part of a documentary gallery for VR title Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, was nominated for the Oscar last month, making it the first film in a video game to be nominated for the prestigious award. Now, it's the first to win.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is the first game in the series to be developed primarily for the Oculus VR platform and is the first release in the series since 2012’s lackluster Medal of Honor: Warfighter. The new VR title, which was released in December 2020, included a Gallery feature that hosted over 90 minutes of documentary footage divided into short films that told the stories of real World War II veterans.
Following Colette's Oscar win, Respawn Entertainment extended the gratitude of everyone at the studio, including co-founder Vince Zampella and Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond director Peter Hirschmann, soon after it was revealed. The message also shared a link to The Guardian, who distributed the film outside of the game, where it can be watched for free. Directed by Anthony Giacchino and produced by Alice Doyard, Colette follows former French Resistance member Colette Marin-Catherine as she travels to Germany and visits the concentration camp where her brother was killed.
The film’s own Twitter accounts also reacted to the award, thanking the Academy for the Oscar as well as EA, The Guardian, Oculus, and Respawn Entertainment for believing in the project. According to Colette's associate producer Sarah Jenks, the film’s journey towards the Academy Awards began at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in February 2020 where it won Best Documentary short. The festival award qualified the film for an Oscar nomination. Both Respawn Entertainment and Oculus acknowledged the potential of the film, which prompted both to share it outside of the game even before the latter was released.
Being the first short documentary produced by a video game studio to win an Oscar is an incredibly impressive feat that has not only made history but also shows just how far video games are capable of going to enrich the stories they’re trying to tell. And the Gallery feature of Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, which included Colette, definitely showed that with this historical achievement.
Sources: Respawn Entertainment/Twitter, The Guardian