Gaming
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond becomes the first video game to win an Oscar
The game contains a short film called Colette that won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short.
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A short film that is found in the Oculus VR game Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, called Colette, has become the first project from the video game industry to win an Oscar. Colette won this year’s Oscar for Best Documentary Short.
The Oscar short film was produced by Oculus Studios and Electronic Arts’ Respawn Entertainment, and features Colette Marin-Catherine, a French resistance fighter who heads back to Germany for the first time since World War 2. There, she visits a familiar slave labor camp, where her brother had died decades ago. The Oscar-winning film was presented as part of the Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond game, but was eventually distributed as a standalone film by The Guardian.
This is the first major success that any video game franchise has brought to the film industry. Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond was not very well received initially, but this Oscar win might add to the game’s positive recognition. In speaking about the film, Oculus Studios director of production Mike Doran said,
“The real hero here is Colette herself, who has shared her story with integrity and strength. 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.”
This is a huge win for the video game industry. For years, video games have attempted to break their way into film and television, ultimately with very little success. Although this film has very little to do with actual video games, this Oscar win shows that game studios have what it takes to produce successful content in the TV and film industry.
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