THE KING'S Speech, in which Colin Firth plays the stammering King George VI, has won 14 Bafta nominations, ahead of ballet drama Black Swanwhich garnered 12.
Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was the next most popular movie at Britain's top film honours with nine nominations, ahead of climbing story 127 Hoursand western remake True Gritwith eight apiece. The nominations were announced yesterday.
The Social Network, which tells the tale of the founding of Facebook and is one of the films widely tipped for Oscar glory this year, has been given six nominations.
Firth, who recently won a Golden Globe and is considered one of the frontrunners for an Oscar, was shortlisted for a best actor prize. He is up against Spain's Javier Bardem ( Biutiful), Jeff Bridges ( True Grit), Jesse Eisenberg ( The Social Network) and James Franco ( 127 Hours).
Firth's co-stars in The King's Speech– Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush – were nominated for best supporting actress and actor.
Natalie Portman ( Black Swan) is contesting the best actress award, with both Annette Bening and Julianne Moore nominated for lesbian family drama The Kids Are All Right. Also nominated are Sweden's Noomi Rapace ( The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) and teenaged star Hailee Steinfeld ( True Grit).
Pete Postlethwaite, the Oscar-nominated actor who died earlier this month, received a posthumous supporting actor nomination for his performance in the Ben Affleck-directed movie The Town.
British urban artist Banksy, who has kept his identity a secret, received a British debut Bafta nomination for directing Exit Through the Gift Shop. Also contesting the category is Chris Morris, who wrote and directed suicide bomber comedy Four Lions, which is also nominated for best British film.
Italian movie I Am Love, Of Gods and Menfrom France and The Secret in Their Eyes(Argentina) were nominated for best foreign language film alongside Spain's Biutifuland Sweden's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
The animated feature award shortlist comprises Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragonand Toy Story 3.
The Orange British Academy Film Awards winners will be announced on February 13th. – (Reuters)