The news of Wednesday's Oscar choices bounced around the world -- with a jubilant Spanish film industry celebrating the director and original screenplay noms for Pedro Almodovar's "Talk to Her."
Almodovar is the first Spanish director to make it to the final five in the Academy Awards main categories.
However, the helmer is backing Martin Scorsese to win the director nod.
"The Academy hasn't recognized Scorsese's work," Almodovar said. "He'll win the Oscar and I'll be delighted. He deserves it -- he's one of the few living masters. I think I've got more of a chance of winning original screenplay."
His brother and producing partner Agustin Almodovar, added: "We were told that we had a chance, but we knew it wouldn't be easy to be nominated (in the English-lingo categories), so we weren't really counting on anything.
"We're very thankful, especially to be nominated in the same category as Roman Polanski and Martin Scorsese, directors who have influenced Pedro in his career," Agustin Almodovar said.
Meanwhile, there were celebrations at the Berlin Intl. Film Fest, where multiple-nom pics "Chicago," "The Hours" and "Adaptation" and China's foreign lingo hopeful "Hero" have already unspooled. "Gangs of New York" does not arrive until closing night Saturday.
Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, declared himself "thrilled" by the three nominations for "Talk to Her," "It's a great triumph for him, and it's well deserved," Barker said.
SPC will more than double the number of screens for "Talk to Her" this weekend, expanding the release to 250-300 prints in the U.S..
The noms made up for the disappointment that "Talk to Her" was not Spain's choice for foreign-language race. SPC is handling Finland's entry, Aki Kaurismaki's "The Man Without a Past." The other noms in the category went to Mexico's "The Crime of Father Amaro," Germany's "Nowhere in Africa," and The Netherlands' "Zus & Zo." Spain's "Mondays in the Sun," did not make the cut.
"My big disappointment is that so many of the best foreign films were not even submitted by their countries," Barker said. "I don't particularly mean Spain. Every year a quality film gets lost this way, but this year many quality films got lost."
Kaurismaki was not celebrating his nom on Tuesday -- because he had yet to be told. The filmmaker was out of reach, filming in the hills of Portugal.
However, Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, which is distributing the pic domestically, said: "We are so proud of Aki Kaurismaki. The picture has been one of the most honored movies around the world this year. It's a tribute to Aki's body of work."
However, news of the Oscar nominations did find their way to the heart of Africa, where Peter Hermann, producer of Caroline Link's "Nowhere in Africa," learned of his film's inclusion on the foreign-lingo shortlist for Germany.
Hermann returned to Kenya to open a road, paid for by shooting fees, connecting the village where the last third of the story takes place to the main highway. He traveled back to participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony and to screen the movie for the locals.
In Holland, surprise greeted "Zus and Zo's" nomination for foreign film -- as it wasn't the country's first choice.
Dutch selectors wanted George Sluizer's "The Stoneraft," which premiered at the Montreal fest last fall. But it didn't meet AMPAS rules because its dialogue is in Spanish and Portuguese.
Instead, they plumped for Paula Van Der Oest's "Zus and Zo," a modest B.O. performer in the Netherlands.
The news raised eyebrows at the Berlin Film Market, where several companies had passed on the chance to rep foreign sales on the pic.
Dutch distribs were bemused -- "I don't understand it," said one -- and U.S. buyers were equally baffled. "I haven't even heard of it," said one top American arthouser.
In London, multiple nominee "The Hours" had a low-key preem at an arthouse theater on Monday night. Stars Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris, Miranda Richardson, helmer Steven Daldry and scribe David Hare were on hand.
But Harvey Weinstein refused to be drawn on Oscar hopes, saying, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I never predict things like that."
(John Hopewell in Spain, Adam Dawtrey and Ed Meza in Berlin and Archie Thomas in London contributed to this report.)
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