Oscar nominations: The Sundance connection

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Three of this morning's Oscar nominations are for films playing at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival

The French-Canadian drama "Monsieur Lazhar" was nominated for best foreign-language film.

Lucy Walker's "The Tsumani and the Cherry Blossom" (in the Documentary Spotlight program) was nominated in the documentary short category.

Grant Orchard's "A Morning Stroll" (playing in Shorts Program I) was nominated for animated short.

Meanwhile, these nominations went to movies that played at last year's festival:

"Margin Call" got an original-screenplay nomination for J.C. Chandor.

The documentaries "Hell and Back Again" (about a soldier's return from Afghanistan) and "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" both were nominated for documentary feature.

"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement" was nominated for documentary short.

Two of the biggest snubs among the not-nominated involve Sundance '11 titles:

"Martha Marcy May Marlene," which might have deserved recognition for its original screenplay, or for the performances by Elizabeth Olsen or John Hawkes.

"Take Shelter" arguably deserved nominations for Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain (who was instead nominated for "The Help").