Hollywood's major studios are parading their big Oscar contenders, but low-budget art films and even animated movies are stealing their thunder as the contest warms up for the U.S. film industry’s top honors.

The documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 and the cartoon The Incredibles want a shot at the best feature film award. The French-language A Very Long Engagement and the Spanish-language The Motorcycle Diaries are among the most talked-about films of the Oscar sweepstakes.

It is not the US$160 million epic Alexander but the tiny art film Sideways, with a principal cast of four, which is wowing many of the 5,800 voters at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who will pick the Oscar winners.

Handlers of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ say it isn’t waging an Oscar advertising campaign, even though they are sending out promotional DVDs to award voters.

“It is really uncharted waters for Oscars. Hollywood is still looking for that one movie everyone is going to rally around,”said Pete Hammond, veteran writer and Oscar watcher.

The critical film awards season that leads up to the awarding of the Oscars in February is just beginning.

On Dec. 1, the members of the National Board of Review name their picks for top films. On Dec. 13, the New York Film Critics Circle names its selections and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announces its Golden Globe nominations. All those lists help narrow the contestants for Oscars.