French Oscars frontrunner The Artist has won the top honour at the Producers Guild Awards ahead of the announcement of this year's Academy Awards nominees tomorrow.

The film's producer, Thomas Langmann, picked up the prize for Michel Hazanavicius's silent, black-and-white paean to Hollywood's golden era at the ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday night. He said the film's critical acclaim so far – it has also won three Golden Globes and picked up 12 Bafta nominations – had come as something of a surprise.

"When Michel Hazanavicius and I dreamed of making The Artist, we knew we were dreaming of writing a love letter to American cinema," Langmann said. "We never knew in return we would get a taste of the American dream."

The Artist triumphed ahead of fellow nominees War Horse, The Help, Bridesmaids, Hugo, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball and The Ides of March. Elsewhere, The Adventures of Tintin took best animated film and Michael Rapaport's film about US hip hop act A Tribe Called Quest, Beats, Rhymes & Life, took the documentary prize. Angelina Jolie picked up the Stanley Kramer award – a special prize recognising films that highlight provocative social issues – for her directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey.

Meanwhile, organisers of the anti-Oscars, the Razzies, said they would be moving this year's ceremony to April Fools' Day. The awards, which recognise the year's "worst" films and acting performances, are usually announced just before the Oscars. This year, the Razzies will announce its nominees on 25 February, the day before the Academy Awards. Last year's prizes went to M Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender (worst picture and worst director), along with Ashton Kutcher and Sarah Jessica Parker (worst actor and actress for Valentine's Day and Sex and the City 2.)

Oscars nominee Jennifer Lawrence will announce this year's Academy Award nominees at 5.38am Los Angeles time (1.38pm UK time) tomorrow, with The Artist expected to be one of the leading films.