Gallery: Best Picture Oscar milestones

'The Artist' is the first silent film to be nominated for a Best Picture award since 1929

Michel Hazanavicius' silent film The Artist is already shaping up to be the runaway hit of the awards season with twelve Bafta nominations, and six nominations and two wins at the Golden Globes - including for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy.

The Artist now has 10 Oscar nominations and has become first silent film to be selected for Best Picture since the 2nd Academy Awards in 1929, when The Patriot received a nomination. Similarly, if The Artist wins the award, it will be the first black and white film since Spielberg's Schindler's List in 1993.

Over its 84 years, the Academy Awards has seen a number of other milestones, and where better to look than in the prestigious category of Best Picture?

Click here to launch our gallery of Best Picture Oscar milestones