The American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Tuesday the Oscar nominees, the world's leading film award.

The nominations in the main categories are as follows:

Best picture:

War Horse; The Artist; Midnight in Paris; Moneyball; The Descendants; The Tree of Life; The Help; Hugo; Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Actor in a Leading role:

Demian Bichir in “A Better Life”; George Clooney in “The Descendants”; Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"; Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and Brad Pitt in "Moneyball"

Actress in a leading role:

Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"; Viola Davis in "The Help"; Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"; Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady" and Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"

Actor in a supporting role:

Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"; Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"; Nick Nolte in "Warrior"; Christopher Plummer in "Beginners" and Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Actress in a supporting role:

Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"; Viola Davis in "The Help"; Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"; Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady" and Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"

Directing:

"The Artist" by Michel Hazanavicius; "The Descendants" by Alexander Payne; "Hugo" by Martin Scorsese; "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen and "The Tree of Life" by Terrence Malick

Foreign Language Film:

Belgium’s "Bullhead"; Israel’s "Footnote"; Poland’s "In Darkness"; Canada’s "Monsieur Lazhar" and Iran’s "A Separation"

The winners will be announced on February 26 with the ceremony broadcast live in 225 countries.