Jamaican audiences will not have a chance to see The Artist — this year’s winner of the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards — at local cinemas.

Douglas Graham, managing director of Palace Amusement Company, Jamaica’s premier motion picture exhibitors and distributors, has disclosed that the film is simply not available to their company for showing in this market.

Over the past few months, Palace Amusement has been showcasing a number f the Oscar-winning films.

Among the winners which have already been seen at local cinemas are: Hugo, which won for cinematography, art direction, sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects. The Iron Lady which took home the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Meryl Streep), as well as achievement in make-up. Another favourite, The Help, was showcased on local cinema screens, and it walked away with the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role — Octavia Spencer. Rango received the Best Animated Feature Film award. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo won for film editing. The Muppets won for Best Original Song while The Descendants took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

At Sunday night’s awards, The Artist — the black and white, silent picture — was the toast of the event copping a total of five golden statuettes.

Besides best picture, The Artist took home four other awards for Best Actor — Jean Dujardin; director Michel Hazanavicius; Best Original Score and Best Costume Design.

The Artist, while made by a French director with a French cast, was filmed in Hollywood. It is almost entirely silent, telling the story of a silent-era movie star whose career is torpedoed by the arrival of ‘the talkies’.

The Best Picture winner earned $20 million of its $32 million in US ticket sales since the Oscar nominations were announced on January 24.