'The Queen' drama leads Bafta nominations

Royal drama 'The Queen' is leading the way in this year's Orange Bafta awards with ten nominations.

Stephen Frears' drama about the monarchy at the time of the death of Princess Diana has been nominated in ten categories, including Best Film, Outstanding British Film and original screenplay.

Frears has also been nominated for Best Director, while star Dame Helen Mirren, who plays the Queen, has been nominated in the Best Actress category. Her co-star, Michael Sheen, has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The latest Bond film, 'Casino Royale' picked up nominations in nine categories, including Outstanding British film. New 007 Daniel Craig also collected a nomination for Best Actor.

Fantasy film 'Pan's Labyrinth' collected eight nominations, including a nomination for Best Film Not In The English Language, alongside Mel Gibson's 'Apocalypto' and Pedro Almodovar's 'Volver'.

However, the surprise of this year's nominations is the low-budget independent film 'Little Miss Sunshine', which picked up six nominations, including a nod for Best Film, as well as nominations for Alan Arkin in the Best Supporting Actor category, Toni Colette and Abigail Breslin in the Best Supporting Actress category and Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris in the Best Director category.

Other films nominated in the Best Film category include 'Babel', 'The Departed' and 'The Last King of Scotland'.

'Babel' director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and 'Departed' director Martin Scorsese are also nominated in the Best Director category, alongside Paul Greengrass, who is nominated for his September 11 drama 'United 93'.

Leonardo DiCaprio, nominated for his role in 'The Departed', will compete against Daniel Craig in the Best Actor category. Richard Griffiths is also nominated for 'The History Boys', as are Peter O'Toole for 'Venus' and Forest Whitaker, who collects a nomination for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 'The Last King of Scotland'.

Whitaker's 'Last King of Scotland' co-star James McAvoy is also nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category, joined by Jack Nicholson for 'The Departed' and Leslie Philips for 'Venus'.

Joining Helen Mirren in the Best Actress category are Dame Judi Dench for forthcoming drama 'Notes On A Scandal', Penelope Cruz for 'Volver', Meryl Streep for 'The Devil Wears Prada' and Kate Winslet for 'Little Children'.

Emily Blunt, who is also nominated for the Orange Rising Star award, leads the nominees in the Best Supporting Actress category, which also includes Frances De La Tour for 'The History Boys' and Jennifer Hudson for 'Dreamgirls'.

Other nominees for the Orange Rising Star award include 'Casino Royale' star Eva Green, Naomie Harris, Cillian Murphy and 'Perfume' actor Ben Whishaw.

The BAFTAs will be announced at a ceremony at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in London on February 11.

(KMcA)