US State Department 'excited' by Argo Oscar win
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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US State Department, still mourning the loss of its diplomats in a bloody attack on a mission in Libya, Monday cheered the Oscar win for Argo based on a true life tale of diplomatic bravery.
"I think we all were excited to see it win," deputy acting spokesman Patrick Ventrell told journalists of Ben Affleck's film which picked up the coveted best picture award at the Oscars on Sunday night.
The movie tells the story of a CIA operation to spirit six US diplomats out of Iran at the height of the 1979 hostage crisis, when Islamist students took over the US embassy in Teheran holding some 52 people for 444 days.
Although some of the events portrayed in the film have been treated with a large degree of artistic licence, the State Department allowed director Affleck's team to film some of the scenes in its main building in Washington.
