Relief broke out at the Zentropa studios this afternoon at the announcement that their production 'Jagten' (The Hunt) was among the Oscar nominees for 86th Academy Awards.
As critics predicted, Thomas Vinterberg's paedophilia drama impressed the academy and was nominated in the category, Best Foreign Language Film.
Also in the category is the Golden Globe-winner 'The Great Beauty' by Paolo Sorrentini, an ode to the late Fellini, but the combination of a compelling story and the internationally-acclaimed actor Mads Mikkelsen in the leading role, may still give 'Jagten' a fair chance in the Oscar race.
READ MORE: No Golden Globe for 'Jagten'
Also nominated are…
Two other Danish films – a documentary and a short film – also made the final cut.
Joshua Oppenheimer's Danish-produced documentary, 'The Act of Killing' – in which Indonesian death squad leaders re-enact the mass-killings they have taken part in – is nominated in the category Best Documentary Feature.
And Anders Walther's 'Helium' – about a dying young boy who escapes into a dream world called Helium – was also among the five nominees in the category Best Live Action Short.
READ MORE: Loved up at the Oscars with some help from the lesbians
No Oscar for Israeli fugitive animation
A Danish production that was short-listed, but didn't make it to the final round, was the stop-motion short film 'Hollow land' by Israeli couple Michelle and Uri Kranot.
The short film, about a fugitive couple's eternal search for utopia, was short-listed in the category 'Animated Short'.
The Oscars air on March 2, so the Danish nominees still have more than a month to practice their acceptance speeches, or gracious loser faces.
