In other words, every foreign language film nominated for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film lost the first award but won the second.

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Iran's A Separation received the award for best foreign language film, while Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris won best screenplay.

BBC: Golden Globes: The Artist wins three awards

There's a clear favourite to win the Academy Award for best foreign language film this time - based on its spread of nominations alone, Amour is already an Oscar hit.

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The French film about a literature teacher in inner-city Paris received glowing reviews and several other wins -- including an Independent Spirit Award for best foreign-language film -- though it came up short at the Oscars and at the Cesars (France's Oscar equivalent), taking home only a writing award at the latter.

CNN: Cannes exposure is no guarantee of success

After Dersu Uzala was Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior), winner of the Cannes Palme d'Or in 1980, and Ran (Chaos, 1985), an adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear which won him an Academy Award nomination for best director - a feat almost unheard of for a foreign-language film.

CNN: Kurosawa Akira