Hugo snags five early Oscars, Iranian film wins

Los Angeles - Martin Scorsese's Hugo won five early trophies on Oscar night Sunday, taking a lead over the pre-show favourite The Artist.

The children’s adventure story set in a Paris railway station, scooped up Academy Awards for art direction, cinematography, visual editing, sound editing and sound mixing.

It had been the leading nominee with 11 nods, though The Artist, with 10 nods, has been widely tipped to dominate the major prizes. The Artist picked up one early Oscar for costume design.

Iran’s A Separation was named best foreign language film, and Rango won for best animated feature.

Octavia Spencer was named best supporting actress for her role in The Help, while Christopher Plummer won the award for best supporting actor for playing an elderly gay man in The Beginners. At the age of 82, he was the oldest actor ever to win an Oscar.//DPA