If Tuesday's unveiling of the the 83rd Academy Award nominations had a familiar ring to it, that's likely because it was dominated by films that made their way through the 33rd Mill Valley Film Festival last October, long before racking up awards and acclaim. 

With a royally impressive 12 nominations, the festival's opening night film The King's Speech led the pack of Oscar hopefuls.

Devotees of the festival will recognize a number of other titles among the nominees, as well as several of the in-person guests who graced the Sequoia and Rafael theaters with their presence during the 2010 fest.

The King's Speech scored nominations in all the major categories, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay, as well as in most of the technical categories.

Director Tom Hooper, one of five Best Director nominees, appeared at the festival's opening night celebration, his first visit to Marin county.

Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who received the MVFF Award during a screening of his latest film Biutiful, was visiting for the third time, but was as eager as a first-time director for audiences to experience his film. His enthusiasm paid off with a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and a Best Actor nomination for Javier Bardem.

Audience favorite James Franco, who received an MVFF award in conjunction with his film 127 Hours, scored an unusual double-whammy: a Best Actor nomination along with hosting duties at this year's ceremony (his co-host will be Anne Hathaway). The film's exuberant director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson, both of whom appeared at the fest, also received nominations in the Best Picture category and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Fans of Annette Bening's performance in The Kids are All Right will be relieved to know that she secured her fourth nomination; her 2010 MVFF career tribute was a rare and intimate glimpse into an accomplished and long-lasting career.

Director Derek Cianfrance made his first MVFF appearance in 2010 with Blue Valentine, whose leading lady Michelle Williams nabbed a spot among the Best Actress nominees. Joining Williams in that category is Nicole Kidman, whose film Rabbit Hole was a last-minute addition to the MVFF schedule, along with its director John Cameron Mitchell.

So how does our hometown film festival have such a strong track record in showcasing future Oscar nominees? Chalk it up to good timing and strong relationships.

With the majority of Oscar-worthy films being released sometime between September and December, MVFF is perfectly positioned as a pit stop on the prestige pic campaign trail. Falling after Telluride and Toronto (where many of these films make their official premieres), MVFF offers the benefit of being non-competitive but still highly selective, and the Bay Area has a high concentration of influential, voting Academy members.

And for the films whose release dates fall later in the season, the Rafael provides a venue for the kind of filmmaker- and audience-friendly screenings that help smaller independent films gain positive word-of-mouth. In the past two months, nominees Amy Adams (Best Supporting Actress, The Fighter), David O. Russell (Best Director, The Fighter), Darren Aronofsky (Best Director, Black Swan) and Debra Granik (Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture, Winter's Bone) have all appeared at the Rafael.

These MVFF/Rafael alums may not be from around here, but they'll certainly have the hometown crowd pulling for them when the big night rolls around on February 27.

And last but not least, a hearty congratulations to bona fide Mill Valley local Andrew Stanton, who received his sixth Oscar nomination (Best Original Screenplay) for 2010's highest-grossing film, Pixar's Toy Story 3.

For a full list of nominees, click here.

The 411: The Academy Awards air live on ABC on February 27. The Smith Rafael Film Center will host a live telecast and party at their Oscar Night America event, which benefits the California Film Institute Education programs. Go to cafilm.org for more information and to buy tickets.