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"The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius has said he never expected the silent film to earn ten Academy Award nominations. Hazanavicius has received a nod for &amp;#039;Best Director&amp;#039;, while stars Jean Dujardin and B\u00E9r\u00E9nice Bejo have been recognized in the &amp;#039;Best Actor&amp;#039; and &amp;#039;Best Actress&amp;#039; categories. Bejo, Dujardin, Hazanavicius and The Artist producer Thomas Langmann appeared on Today on Tuesday (January 24) to discuss the Oscar nominations. The Artist director Hazanavicius admitted to Matt Lauer that being honored by the Academy came as a wonderful surprise. &amp;quot;I absolutely did not expect something like [this]. We made this film really by passion and art \u2013 we never thought it was possible to go so high with the Oscar nomination,&amp;quot; he beamed. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s unexpected. Really, it was a small film and it&amp;#039;s unbelievable. I think I am the happiest director in the world... It&amp;#039;s a big surprise.&amp;quot; &amp;#039;Best Actress&amp;#039; nominee Bejo also thanked the Academy and insisted that everyone involved with The Artist feels &amp;quot;very lucky&amp;quot;. The Artist has already received  three Golden Globe Awards, with the movie taking &amp;#039;Best Original Score&amp;#039;, Dujardin winning &amp;#039;Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy&amp;#039; and the film itself being named &amp;#039;Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy&amp;#039;. The 2012 Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 26 at Hollywood&amp;#039;s Kodak Theatre. &amp;gt; Hugo, The Artist lead Oscar 2012 nominations &amp;gt; Oscars 2012 poll: Which movie should win &amp;#039;Best Picture&amp;#039;? &amp;gt; Oscars 2012: Academy Awards nominations - in full Watch a trailer for The Artist below:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/oscars/news/a361838/artist-director-michel-hazanavicius-oscar-nod-makes-me-so-happy/>