'The Artist' wins best picture Oscar

Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist" was conferred the Oscar for best picture at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony, beating eight other movies.

Set in 1927, "The Artist" is about a silent movie star George Valentin, who wonders whether the arrival of talkies will cause him to fade into oblivion. The movie also stars Berenice Bejo.

"The Artist" was nominated alongside "The Descendants", "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", "The Help", "Hugo", "Midnight in Paris", "Moneyball", "The Tree Of Life" and "War Horse".

It is said to be the first silent film to have won the best film Oscar since the 1927 movie "Wings", which was honoured in 1929 at the first Oscar ceremony.