Colette wins Academy Award for best documentary short, brings the first Oscar to the video game industry

Colette, a film released by the Guardian and featured in the Oculus VR Game Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, has won the Oscar for the best documentary short at the 93rd Academy Awards. 

Written and directed by Anthony Giacchino, produced by Alice Doyard, Annie Small and Aaron Matthews, and presented by Oculus Studios and Electronic Arts’ Respawn Entertainment, it is the first time a video game industry project has won an Oscar. 

Colette tells the story of 90-year-old Colette Marin-Catherine, who fought the Nazis as a member of the French Resistance. 

Anthony Giacchino, writer and director of Colette, said: “We’re deeply honoured and humbled that Colette has won the Oscar … but our deepest gratitude goes to Colette and Lucie, for allowing us to share their story and bear witness to their journey.”

The real hero here is Colette herself, who has shared her story with integrity and strength,” Oculus Studios director of production Mike Doran said in a statement. “As we see in the film, resistance takes courage, but facing one’s past may take even more. Allowing us to preserve this pilgrimage for future generations was a true act of bravery and trust. We hope this award and the film’s reach means, as Colette says, that Jean-Pierre’s memory, as well as all of those who resisted, are no longer lost in the ‘Night and Fog’ of Dora.”