Nine MEDIA-funded films in Oscar® nominations

The nominations have been announced for the 84th Academy Awards®, and nine MEDIA-supported films have been shortlisted. The awards will be presented in Los Angeles on 26 February 2012.

Leading the way with ten nominations is The Artist, directed by Michel Hazanavicius, which has so far received modest awards from MEDIA for its distribution in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. One of the key aims of the MEDIA Programme is to help films cross borders and these grants in small countries are vital to help films be seen by a wider audience. The Artist has been nominated in the categories of Best Picture, Writing (Original Screenplay), Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing and Music (Original Score), and Michel Hazanavicius is in the running for the Directing award, Jean Dujardin has been nominated for the Actor in a Leading Role award, and Bérénice Bejo is up for the Actress in a Supporting Role award.

Competing with Jean Dujardin in the Actor in a Leading Role category, Gary Oldman has been nominated for his performance in MEDIA-funded Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which has also received nominations for Music (Original Score) and Writing (Adapted Screenplay).

Other MEDIA-funded films nominated include The Iron Lady, directed by Phyllida Lloyd which received grants totalling €853,000 from MEDIA to bolster its release in 18 European territories. Other supported films up for awards include Albert Nobbs, directed by Rodrigo Garcia, and Cary Fukanaga's Jane Eyre. MEDIA-supported films are well represented in the Animated Feature Film category, with two films receiving nominations: Un vie de chat (A Cat in Paris), directed by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol, and the winner of the 2011 European Film Award for Best Animated Film, Chico and Rita, directed by Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba.

In the Documentary (Feature) category, a nomination has been received by Wim Wenders' Pina, which received over €500,000 from the MEDIA Programme for its release across Europe. In the Foreign Language Film category the Belgian film Bullhead, directed by Michael R. Roskam received a development grant from MEDIA.

For a full list of nominees see the 84th Academy Awards® website.

Publication date: 01 Feb 2012