The Oscar-nominated short 'Bestia' highlights an exciting time for Chilean animation

For the second time in history, Chile is a contender for an Oscar in short film animation. Bestia, directed by Hugo Covarrubias and produced by Tevo Diaz, uses stop-motion animation to portray the dark, evil mind of Íngrid Olderöck, a woman responsible for torture and human rights violations during the Chilean dictatorship of the '70s and '80s.

This nomination is the latest milestone in what has been a gripping time for the country's animation industry, which has been increasingly recognized on the world stage: won the was nominated in the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, a prestigious French film festival, for best feature. In fact, Chile has been nominated at Annecy three years in a row now. In 2016, the country got its first Oscar for .