Director Daniel Junge is the third Coloradan to win an Oscar. He grew up in Wyoming but now calls Denver home.
The director won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short for his film "Saving Face." The documentary tells the story of Pakistani women who are abused and scarred for life with acid attacks on their face.
In an exclusive TV interview, he told Entertainment Reporter Kirk Montgomery it was a chance radio broadcast that piqued his interest.
"I am an avid BBC Radio listener and the biggest story of the year three years ago was Katie Piper," he said. "She was an aspiring model in London who got attacked by acid. In the interview, she thanked her plastic surgeon."
One phone call later and Junge was on his way to Pakistan where the issue of acid attacks is very common. He was able to follow the doctor for a year and a half as he tried to help women.
The director was only home in Denver for one day over the weekend, and says it's been a very busy and surreal week since winning the Academy Award.
"First of all, it feels like it's been a year. It's been such a crazy week. I don't think it really fully sunk in until I made it home last night and set that sucker on my kitchen table," Junge said, nodding toward the Oscar statue. "Then it was real."
"Saving Face" will air on HBO starting Thursday, March 8.
(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)