Oscars 2021: Medal of Honor Developer Respawn Entertainment's Colette Wins Best Documentary Short
Colette, a short documentary film co-produced by Respawn Entertainment, Electronic Arts, and [...]
Colette, a short documentary film co-produced by Respawn Entertainment, Electronic Arts, and Oculus Studios, has won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. The film was released as one of several documentaries in last year's Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, making the win all the more notable. The short film follows Colette Marin-Catherine, a former member of the French Resistance during World War II. Her brother died in the concentration camp at Mittelbau-Dora, and Colette sees her visiting the location 74 years after his death. It's a powerful film, and its win should break new ground for the video game industry.
On Twitter, the developer celebrated the win, while also providing a link where viewers can check out the picture. The Tweet can be found embedded below.
We're over the moon about Colette's Best Documentary (Short Subject) #Oscars win tonight! From Vince, Peter, and all of us at Respawn, we are humbled and honored. Thank you.
And if you haven't seen the film, you can watch it for free here: https://t.co/CxwNGWMOXv
— Respawn (@Respawn) April 26, 2021
While Colette was specifically filmed for the purpose of being part of Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, Oculus Studios, Respawn Entertainment, and Electronic Arts made the decision to "share it with the world before the game was released." It premiered at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in February 2020. There, it won Best Documentary Short, which is how it qualified for an Oscar nomination in the first place.
Colette's nomination and win marks the first time that the video game industry has ever been recognized by the Academy Awards. It's a testament to the incredible quality of the film, but it's also an historic moment for the video game industry as a whole. The industry has fought hard to gain mainstream acceptance as an art form, and the win shows just how far things have come. Over the years, a lot of video games have offered documentary material, and it will be interesting to see if Colette's win convinces more publishers to invest time and resources into doing just that. It might even convince the Academy Awards to continue to look at the work being done in the gaming industry.
Have you had the opportunity to watch Colette yet? Are you happy with the film's Oscar win? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all things gaming!