What a coup for Michel Hazanavicius & Co! The French filmmaker’s silent film The Artist has just been nominated for a total of ten possible statuettes as was just announced in Los Angeles, including the top award for film, directing, male actor, supporting role by a female, screenplay and musical score. Martin Scorsese’s Hugo Cabret is up for eleven possible awards.

There’s been a lot of anticipation that this might happen after the recent Golden Globes ceremony which saw The Artist grab three awards.

What a coup, indeed, when a silent, black & white film earns so much recognition. Jean Dujardin, the film’s male lead, has earned whatever is coming his way (to say nothing of Hazanavicius himself) after carrying this entire movie by creating a highly likeable, though recognizable, A-list silent-era Hollywood actor.

If The Artist picks up a lot of the statuettes, this could be like winning the World Cup for France, symbolically speaking. Weinstein Company did most of the heavy lifting production-wise, which qualified this film for awards outside of the foreign picture category.

Other films nominated in the Best Picture category are Midnight in Paris and The Tree of Life.

Click here for the full list of nominees.