Dutch filmmaker and animator Michael Dudok de Wit received an Academy Award for his animated short Father and Daughter, an eight-minute film created with charcoal and pencil.

Dudok de Wit, a commercial director repped out of Los Angeles-based ACME Filmworks, collaborated with animator Arjan Wilschut and producers Willem Thijssen and Claire Jennings to complete the emotional tale.

Father and Daughter is the story of two family members separated in life only to return to one another in death. The short begins with the father hugging his daughter goodbye as he sets sail in a boat never to be heard from again. Time passes as reflected by the changing seasons and the turning wheels of the daughter's bicycle, which she rides routinely to the water's edge in anticipation of her father's return.

Having spent the last four years making the film, Dudok de Wit will return to directing commercials. Among his credits are spots for the Irish Lottery, Nestle, Volkswagen and Heinz. Coincidentally, the storyteller was awarded a high-definition television for having one of the shortest acceptance speeches at the awards ceremony. It was just 15 seconds long. Dudok de Wit says he will donate the TV to a children's charity.