LONDON (AP) — It’s spry versus spy as frothy silent movie “ The Artist” and moody thriller “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” lead the race for the British Academy Film Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars.
“ The Artist” received 12 nominations and “Tinker Tailor” 11, with each film up for best picture and director, and best actor nominations for leading men Jean Dujardin and Gary Oldman.
The other best-film nominees announced Tuesday were “ The Descendants,” “Drive” and “The Help.”
The best actor contest pits Oldman and Dujardin against Brad Pitt for “ Moneyball,” George Clooney for “ The Descendants” and Michael Fassbender for “Shame.”
The best actress category includes two performers playing real-life icons — Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in “My Week With Marilyn” and Meryl Streep as former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.”
The other nominees are Berenice Bejo for “ The Artist,” Tilda Swinton for “ We Need to Talk About Kevin” and Viola Davis for “The Help.”
The prizes will be awarded at a ceremony at London’s Royal Opera House on Feb. 12. They are considered an important indicator of prospects at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles two weeks later.
“My Week With Marilyn,” the story of the movie legend’s time shooting an ill-starred comedy in England, received six BAFTA nominations, including a supporting-actor nod for Kenneth Branagh, who plays Laurence Olivier.
He is up against Christopher Plummer for “ Beginners,” Jim Broadbent for “The Iron Lady,” Jonah Hill for “Moneyball” and Philip Seymour Hoffman for “The Ides of March.”
The supporting actress category features Carey Mulligan for “Drive,” Jessica Chastain for “ The Help,” Judi Dench for “ My Week With Marilyn,” Melissa McCarthy for “Bridesmaids” and Olivia Spencer for “The Help.”
The multinational bestdirector contest pits Denmark’s Nicholas Winding Refn, for the turbocharged “ Drive,” against France’s Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist,” Sweden’s Tomas Alfredson for “Tinker Tailor,” Britain’s Lynne Ramsay for “ We Need to Talk About Kevin” and Martin Scorsese of the United States for “Hugo.”
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