The Artist wins again as talk of Oscar success grows

The Artist has continued its love affair with American cinema, winning best-produced film at the Producers Guild Awards and boosting its chances for an Oscar nod at the Academy Award nominations this week.

The silent black-and-white French comedy is a homage to the pre-talkie era of Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s and tells the story of a fading silent-movie star as sound began entering the world of cinema. "When Michel Hazanavicius and I dreamt of making The Artist, we knew we were dreaming of writing a love letter to American cinema. We never knew in return we would get a taste of the American dream," Thomas Langmann, the film's producer, said in his acceptance speech in Beverly Hills on Saturday night.

The film has been sweeping awards ceremonies, winning best picture at the Critics' Choice and Golden Globes earlier this month.

The Producers Guild Awards are significant in the race to the Academy Awards on 26 February; many of the 5,000-plus members also belong to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which votes for the Oscars. For the last four years, the producers' best-produced film picks have won the best-picture Oscar.

Reuters