Last week the Academy gave four nods to independent film Winter's Bone, which is distributed in Australia and New Zealand exclusively by Curious.

The film received four Academy Award nominations in competitive categories: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress for newcomer Jennifer Lawrence and Best Supporting Actor John Hawkes. 

"We still can’t believe that the very first film we’ve distributed in this market has four Oscar nominations," says Matt Noonan, executive producer at Curious.

"We set up Curious Distribution because we wanted to bring original indie films to audiences that wouldn’t otherwise be screened here," says Noonan.

"The fact that Winter's Bone is a four-times Oscar contender makes us feel like we’re doing something right."

Curious has screened Winter's Bone at cinemas around Australia and New Zealand following the film’s premiere at Sydney Film Festival and NZ International Film Festival last year.

The film is now playing at Rialto Cinema in Newmarket, Paramount in Wellington and many other cinemas around New Zealand (www.flicks.co.nz). 

Sydney-siders can see it at the Bondi Open Air Festival (www.bondiopenair.com.au), Manly Cinemas (www.manlycinemas.com.au) or in late-night sessions at the Chauvel (www.chauvelcinema.net.au), and in Melbourne it’s screening at Cinema Nova.

Director Debra Granik said: "We may be one of the lower budget films that’s ever been able to participate in something like this. It emboldens you to keep trying, to look for more stories. You want to deliver again. As an underdog, it gives you fuel to want to do good work and bring it back."