India-based Smile Pinki bags Oscar for best short documentary

American filmmaker Megan Mylan won the best short documentary Oscar for her movie Smile Pinki, a heartwarming tale of a poor Indian village girl whose cleft lip made her a social outcast. Mylan's video

American filmmaker Megan Mylan won the best short documentary Oscar for her movie Smile Pinki, a heartwarming tale of a poor Indian village girl whose cleft lip made her a social outcast.

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The documentary, which bagged the award here Sunday, traces Pinki's journey from being ostracised to being treated like a normal girl after a social worker helped her undergo surgery.

Mylan says the happy ending inspired her to show Pinki's story.

"As a filmmaker who focuses on social issue documentaries, it is rare that I get into a film knowing we're likely to have a happy ending. So, I was excited to tell the story of this beautiful hospital and a team of doctors and social workers treating their patients with such compassion and quality care and making a positive impact," said Mylan.

"We didn't have any money for the surgery and I used to wish that she would die. But things changed after the operation. And I really wish that the film wins at the Oscars," said Pinki's mother before the ceremony.

Spielzeugland (Toyland) won the best short film (live action) Oscar. A Mephisto Film Production by Jochen Alexander Freydank, the 14-minute film is set in 1942 and is the story of a German boy who believes that his Jewish neighbours are going to Toyland.