An old bear sets up a wooden theater on a busy street corner daily, featuring tin puppets he crafted. For a coin, the puppets come to life, telling the story of a circus bear longing to escape and reunite with his family, visible through a peephole to passing onlookers.
The first Chilean film to win an Oscar®, this bittersweet short deploys the charming language of children’s bedtime stories to tell a real-life tale of loss. As a film about the power of art to sublimate pain but bring joy too, its metatextual qualities make it all the more haunting and moving.