Small films' big chance with Oscar voters

There are no small roles, the acting cliche has it, and Oscar voters showed that there are no small movies either.

Academy Award voters favoured bravura performances in low-budget films over established stars such as Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and Tom Cruise in the annual run toward the American film industry's highest honours.

The Oscars, given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, traditionally favour performances in big-budget films, such as Kidman's in the Civil War drama Cold Mountain, Crowe's in the seafaring adventure Master and Commander: Far Side of the World and Cruise's in The Last Samurai.

That pattern changed somewhat as independent movies gained prominence in the 1990s, but this year it was nearly erased as actors dominating their Oscar categories came from films that emphasised character over epic subjects and glitzy effects.

That was especially surprising given the controversy last year over an early ban on sending videos of award-hopeful films to Academy voters, that was eventually repealed.

The so-called "screener ban" had been expected to handicap low-budget films that do not have big advertising budgets to promote their actors or are showing in limited release.

"This shows really great performances do get nominated ... There is great specificity in the detail of these performances, and actors always say God is in the detail," said Marcia Gay Harden, a best supporting actress nominee for Mystic River.

Harden's work won critical attention early, but she was considered an Oscar underdog after having been left out of other awards like the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild.

Other supporting actress nominees were Holly Hunter in Thirteen, Patricia Clarkson for Pieces of April - both independent movies - and Shohreh Aghdashloo, an Iranian who is relatively unknown in the United States, for House of Sand and Fog.

The only supporting actress nominee who had seemed assured of placing in the group was Renee Zellweger for Cold Mountain.

Keisha Castle-Hughes, 13, of New Zealand's Whale Rider, became the youngest best actress nominee ever. She was joined by Samantha Morton for In America, a low-budget film that won early critical praise but was seen as a longshot in the run-up to the Oscar nominations.

Morton said Hollywood studios had "lots of money to buy their advertising [for awards], so often, small movies like ours don't get the chance to be seen."

Other actress nominees were Golden Globe winner Charlize Theron playing a serial killer in independent Monster and Naomi Watts in another low-budget drama, 21 Grams.

Completing the group was Diane Keaton for Something's Gotta Give.

Several choices among the best acting categories were surprising, particularly Djimon Hounsou, who is up for a best supporting actor Oscar for In America.

More widely anticipated nominees in that group were Alec Baldwin in The Cooler, Benicio Del Toro for 21 Grams - two more independent films - Golden Globe winner Tim Robbins in Mystic River and Ken Watanabe in The Last Samurai.

Best actor nominations went to Jude Law for Cold Mountain, Ben Kingsley for House of Sand and Fog, Bill Murray for Lost in Translation, Sean Penn for Mystic River and Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Depp's nomination proved mildly surprising - dramatic films and performances are generally favoured at the Oscars over comedies such as the action-packed Pirates.

"Everybody gets obsessed about [Oscar advertising] campaigns, and this shows how meaningless they are," said Seabiscuit director Gary Ross, "but eventually everybody finds the films they love and performances they love."

- REUTERS