Once upon a time, independent film companies were Hollywood anomalies. Today, they play a major role, as is demonstrated in the 84th Academy Award nominations, which were announced last week.

Independents garnered 60 nominations in feature categories, according to the Independent Film and Television Alliance, whose member companies captured a total of 44 nominations. IFTA member companies are noted with their nominated films.

HUGO (GK Films) leads the race with 11, followed by THE ARTIST (Wild Bunch, The Weinstein Company) with 10, and TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (Studio Canal, Focus Features) and THE TREE OF LIFE (Summit Entertainment) with three nominations each.

Best Picture: THE ARTIST (Wild Bunch, The Weinstein Company),HUGO (GK Films), MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, and THE TREE OF LIFE (Summit Entertainment).

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius – THE ARTIST(Wild Bunch, The Weinstein Company), Martin Scorsese – HUGO (GK Films), Woody Allen – MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, Terrence Malick – THE TREE OF LIFE (Summit Entertainment).

Actor in a Leading Role: Demián Bichir – A BETTER LIFE (Wild Bunch, Summit Entertainment), Jean Dujardin – THE ARTIST (Wild Bunch, The Weinstein Company), Gary Oldman – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (StudioCanal, Focus Features)

Actress in a Leading Role: Glenn Close – ALBERT NOBBS, Meryl Streep – THE IRON LADY (Pathé International, Goldcrest Pictures, U.K. Film Council, The Weinstein Company), Michelle Williams – MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (The Weinstein Company, U.K. Film Council)

Actor in a Supporting Role: Kenneth Branagh – MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (The Weinstein Company, U.K. Film Council), Nick Nolte – WARRIOR (Lionsgate, Mandate Pictures), Christopher Plummer – BEGINNERS (Focus Features).

Actress in a Supporting Role: Berenice Bejo – THE ARTIST (Wild Bunch, The Weinstein Company), Janet McTeer – ALBERT NOBBS.

Writing/Original Screenplay: Michel Hazanavicius – THE ARTIST (Wild Bunch, The Weinstein Company), J.C. Chandor – MARGIN CALL (Myriad Pictures, Lionsgate), Woody Allen – MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, Asghar Farhadi – A SEPARATION.

Writing/Adapted Screenplay: John Logan – HUGO (GK Films), George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon – THE IDES OF MARCH (Exclusive Films International Ltd., Comerica Bank). Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER, SPY (StudioCanal, Focus Features)

Foreign Language Film: BULLHEAD, FOOTNOTE, IN DARKNESS, MONSIEUR LAZHAR, A SEPERATION

Animated Feature Film: A CAT IN PARIS, CHICO & RITA (Hanway Films), RANGO (GK Films)

Art Direction: THE ARTIST (Wild Bunch, The Weinstein Company) – Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould, HUGO (GK Films) – Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS – Production Design: Ann Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil

Cinematography: Guillaume Schiffman – THE ARTIST (Wild Bunch, The Weinstein Company), Robert Richardson – HUGO (GK Films), Emmanuel Lubezki – THE TREE OF LIFE (Summit Entertainment)

Costume Design: Mark Bridges – THE ARTIST (Wild Bunch, The Weinstein Company) Sandy Powell – HUGO (GK Films), Michael O’Connor – JANE EYRE (Focus Features), Arianne Phillips – W.E. (The Weinstein Company, IM Global)
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Documentary (Feature): HELL AND BACK AGAIN; IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT. PARADISE LOST 3: Purgatory (HBO), PINA (Hanway Films), UNDEFEATED (The Weinstein Company)

Film Editing: Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius – THE ARTIST(Wild Bunch, The Weinstein Company), Thelma Schoonmaker HUGO (GK Films)
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Makeup: Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle – ALBERT NOBBS, Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland – THE IRON LADY, (Pathé International, Goldcrest Pictures, U.K. Film Council, The Weinstein Company)

Music (Original Score): Ludovic Bource – THE ARTIST (Wild Bunch, The Weinstein Company), Howard Shore – HUGO (GK Films), Alberto Iglesias – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (StudioCanal, Focus Features)

Sound Editing: Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis – DRIVE (Sierra/Affinity), Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty – HUGO (GK Films)
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Sound Mixing: Tom Fleischman and John Midgley – HUGO (GK Films)

Visual Effects: Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning – HUGO (GK Films)

For more than 30 years, IFTA Members have produced, distributed and financed leading films. 19 have won the Academy Award® for Best Picture since 1980, most recently THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company) , THE HURT LOCKER (Voltage Pictures and Summit Entertainment) and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Pathé International).

The Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) is the global trade association of the independent motion picture and television programming industry. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization represents and provides significant entertainment industry services to more than 150 member companies from 23 countries, consisting of independent production and distribution companies, sales agents, television companies, studio-affiliated companies, and financial institutions engaged in content finance.

Collectively, the Independent Film & Television Alliance’s members produce more than 400 independent films and countless hours of television programming each year and generate more than $4 billion in distribution revenues annually. The organization’s premiere event, the American Film Market, held in conjunction with AFI FEST, takes place every year in November in Santa Monica.

As the voice and advocate for the independent film and television industry worldwide, the Alliance speaks out on matters of critical importance and, where appropriate, actively lobbies governments around the world in regard to measures directly affecting the independent industry. For more information on IFTA and the American Film Market, please visit www.ifta-online.org.